Library 

OF  THE 

University  of  NortK  Carolina 

This  book  was  presented  by 

Members  of  the  family  of  the  late 

COL.  A.  B.  ANDREWS 


00006777339 


*<^ 


This  BOOK  may  be  kept  out  TWO' WEEKS 
ONLY,    and    is    subject    to    a    fine    of    FIVE—  | 
CENTS  a  day  thereafter.   It  was  taken  out  on 
the  day  indicated  below: 


JUN23'5^ 


m-Tfisn 


,1'  1^  Lib.  lOM-Fe  '38 


Ri:v.  R.  H.  WiiiTAKER,  D.D. 

HALEIGH,    N.    C. 


WHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

INCIDENTS  AND   ANECDOTES. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OTHER  DAYS  AND  YEARS; 

OR, 

What  1  Saw  and  Heard  and  Thought  of  People 

Whom  I  Knew,  and  What  They 

Did  and  Said. 


By  Rev.  R.  H.  WHITAKER,  D.D., 
RALEIGH,  N.  C. 


PUBLISHED    FOR   THE   AUTHOR  BY  EDWARDS    &   BROUGHTON. 
1905. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  on  the  eleventh  day 
of  November,  1904,  by  Rev.  R.  H.  Whitaker,  D.D.,  in  the  office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


DEDICATION 


To  the  old  time  friends  who  still  linger  on  earth,  and  who  will,  I 

trust,  find  pleasure  in  reading  these  Reminiscences ;  and 

to  the  memory  of  those  other  friends  who  have 

gone  before  us  to  the  Spirit  land,  this 

book  is  lovingly  dedicated,  by 

The  Author. 


i 


INTRODUCTION. 


This  book  is  purely  accidental.  I  knew  there 
were  enough  books  in 'the  world,  and  I  had  not  the 
remotest  idea  that  I  could  be  induced  to  become  the 
author  of  another,  while  there  were  so  many  mil- 
lions of  pages,  of  unread  literature,  lying  upon 
libran^  shelyes.  Had  I  been  asked  to  write  a  book 
I  should  haye  promptly  and  emphatically  declined, 
unless  most  extraordinary  inducements  had  been 
offered.  Eyen  then,  I  would  haye  hesitated,  as  I 
should  haye  doubted  the  wisdom  of  the  under- 
taking. 

But  the  book  is  written,  and  I  did  it;  so  that  the 
old  adage  has  again  been  yerified :  ^^The  unexpected 
happens  when  least  expected.''  The  public  must 
not  blame  me.  I  was  attending  strictly  to  my  own 
affairs,  leading  a  yery  quiet  life,  not  eyen  thinking 
of  making  any  noise  in  the  world,  when  the  editor 
of  the  Neivs  'and  Observer,  employing  a  subtilty, 
somewhat  similar  to  that  which  turned  old  Mother 
Eye's  head,  beguiled  me  into  the  opinion  that,  pos- 
sibly, I  might  write  a  few  letters  that  would  inter- 
est some  of  the  older  people,  and,  perhaps,  instruct 
a  few  of  the  younger.  An  extract  from  an  edito- 
rial of  the  ISlews  and  Observer  explains  the  whole 
affair,  and  places  the  blame  of  this  publication 
where  it  should  rest,  upon  the  editor  of  that  paper. 
On  September  3,  1903,  the  News  and  Observer 
made  this  announcement : 

^'At  the  request  of  the  editor  of  the  News  and 
Observer,  the  oldest  liying  editor  in  Raleigh,  Key. 
R  H  Whitaker,  D.D.,  who  is  a  useful  and  honored 
minister  of  the  gospel,  begins  a  series  of  reminis- 
cences which  will  appear  eyery  Sunday,  for  some 
months,  in  the  Netvs  and  Observer,  and  on  Mondays 
in  the  Farmer  and  Mechanic.  *  *  *  His  first 
letter  appears  to-day.     It  is  bright,  witty,  histori- 


6  IXTRODrCTIOX. 

cal,  and  written  in  a  style  to  make  it  absorbingly 
interesting.-' 

That  Avas  how  the  matter  started.  The  "some 
months-'  I  was  expected  to  write  became  a  year, and 
then  friends,  who  were  pleased  with  them,  sug- 
gested that  niT  letters  were  worthy  of  being  pre- 
served in  book  form.  Influenced  by  this  suggestion, 
I  consented  to  make  a  book  of  my  reminiscences. 
If,  after  reading  it,  the  reader  is  pleased,  I  shall  be 
glad  the  book  was  published. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  the  contents  of  this 
book  are  incidents  with  which  the  writer  was  fa- 
miliar, and,  in  many  of  them,  an  actor,  or  at  least 
a  spectator,  which  must  account  for  the  so  frequent 
use  of  "I,''  and  what  "I''  saw  and  heard.  Another 
thing  that  will  be  observed  by  the  critic  is  the  lack 
of  order  in  the  arrangement  of  topics.  I  have 
thrown  together  letters  as  they  appeared  in  the 
^eics  and  OhserreVj  each  chapter  representing  a 
letter,  and  treating  of  incidents  as  they  happened 
to  occur  to  my  mind,  at  the  time  of  writing.  So, 
the  book  is  simply  a  compilation  of  letters  which, 
when  written,  the  author  had  no  idea  of  converting 
into  a  book.  Hoping  that  many  may  be  profited  as 
well  as  amused  by  a  perusal  of  it,  I  hereby  send  it 
forth  in  search  of  friends. 

The  drawings  for  the  illustrations  in  this  book 
were  made  by  our  young  friend,  Mr.  Lamar  Bailey, 
of  this  city. 

The  reader  will  find  errors  in  the  book,  which 
he,  of  course,  will  correct.  Some  have  been  discov- 
ered and  regretted  by  the  publishers,  but,  like  the 
sins  of  the  past,  there  they  are.  This  correction, 
however,  must  be  made  on  page  73  :  "September  18'^ 
should  read  September.  17,  the  date  on  which  Gen. 
Brancli  was  killed. 

R.  H.  WlIITAKER. 
Raleigh,  N.  C  , 

June  15,  ll)0.j. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I.  PAGES. 

The  Log  Cabin  Campaign 1-^ 

CHAPTER  II. 
Some  Newspapers   and   their   Editors— A   Marriage — 

Old  Stephen — The  Temperance  Movement  Begun .  . .         9-lG 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Live  Giraffe— Gov.  Bragg— Henry  Clay's  Visit  to 

Raleigh — Incidents    16-22 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Old  Time  Militia— New  Bern  Celebration — Fun- 

neling   a   Man — Gen.   Winslow — Fayetteville 23-30 

CHAPTER  V. 
Horse  Pulling  the  State  House — Yearling  up  in  the 

Air — Deems,  Moran,  Closs  and  the  Spelling  Boy 31-37 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Starting  to  School — First  Teacher,  First  Speech,  First 

Revival — First  Sermon  and  First  Impressions 37-4a 

CHAPTER  VII 

Hon.   George   E.   Badger — John    Bobbitt,    Esq. — First 

State  Fair— The  D.  Q.  I's 44-51 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Raleigh     Christian     Advocate — Transfer     that     Made 

Some  Methodists  Mad — Dr.  Hefiin  in  Wilmington..       51-58 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Importance  as  Editor — Earliest   Recollection   of  Rail- 
roads— The  Baptist    Church — Visit    to  Washington 
City    58-64 

CHAPTER  X. 
Deaf,    Dumb    and    Blind    Institute — Gov.    Graham — 

Thanksgiving — The  Mexican  War — "Jack  Mitchell".       64-70 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Gen.  L.  O'B.  Branch — How  I   Got   Into  Politics,   and 
How  I  Got  Out 70-78 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Raleigh   and   Gaston   Railroad — Christopher   Thomas' 
Dream 79-85 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Danger  of  Moderate  Drinking — "Uncle  Billy's  Story — 
Going  Through  a  Window 85-92 


8  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV.  PAGES. 

Some  Reflections  Upon    Childliood — Imaginary  Visit 

to  Old-Time  Scenes,  Including  the  Old  Home 92-100 

CHAPTER  XV. 
"Crap  Lien" — Golden  Rule — Sermon  'on  the  Mount — 
Nat.     Thomas — A     Good     Old     Gentleman — Wiley- 
Holmes    101-108 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
"Aunt    Abby    House" — A    Once     Turbulent    Woman 

Whose  Life  Closed  in  Peace 109-120 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Raleigh     an    Old    Camping    Place — First    Methodist 
Meeting  House — The  Coman  Family — A  Letter — A 
Mock  Marriage   121-130 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Isham  Lloyd — Ingratitude — Old  Time  Christmas 131—138 

CHAPTER    XIX. 
How  Some  Men's  Pockets  are  Picked — Whiskey  Costs 

More  Than  the  Gospel 139-146 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Bad  Roads — Jonas  Medlin — Some  of  His  Characteris- 
tics— The  Great  Changes — Ministerial  Professionals.   146-154 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
Dr.   Cortland  Myers — "Old   John   Brown,"   and   What 
Judge  Douglas  Said  of  Him— Freedman's  Bureau — 
Forty  Acres  and  a  Mule — Negro's  Deed  to  His  Land.   155-163 

CHAPTER  XXI I. 
Captain    Woodall — A     Sad     Story — Some    Advice    to 
Farmers — A  Little  Common  Sense 164-171 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Conference  at  New  Bern — A  Scene  at  the  Station — 
Two  Visits  to  Beaufort— An  Old  Widower — Setting 
up  With  a  Dead  Man 171-178 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Haw  River  Barbecue — Regimental  Muster — Old  Aunt 

Rose— A  Visit  From  "Burt"— An  Old  Nurse 179-189 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
La  Grippe,  and  Who  Started  It? — Kirkham's  Spring- 
In  a  Quandary 189-196 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
Temperance    Campaign    of    1881 — How    Liquor    Men 
Talked  to  the  Negroes— A  Church  Trial 196-204 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  XXVII.  pages. 
Gov.  Zebiilon  B.  Vance  and  Gen.  Robert  B.  Vance- 
Judge  Gaston  204-211 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Married  a  Widower  with  Seven  Children— How  She 

Lost  Her  Pet  Name 212-222 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Sunday  Freight  Trains— Drinking  Church  Member- 
Toting   Pistols— Lawyers— Tom  Rhodes— Other   In- 
cidents       222-229 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Snoring  and  the  Various  Kinds  of  Snores 229-238 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Funerals — Funeral  Sermons — Mr.    Thompson — Handy 

Lockett— How  Boys  Flank  their  Mammies 239-246 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Rural  Deliveries— Old  Time  Mail  Route— Spanking  a 

Yankee    247-256 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
Some  Old  Time  Preachers — Chicken   Eaters — Bishop 
Haygood's  Dinner  Hen— How  the  Preacher  Got  His 

Teeth    256-264 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

First  Legislature  Under  an  Oak— About  Dogs 265-273 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
Spoiling  Children— Father   and   Son   Meet  at  a   Cir- 
cus— A     Correction — Teaching     School — Killing     a 

Deer,  etc 274-281 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
Conference   at   Goldsboro— Drs.    Closs   and    Burton- 
Bishops    Pierce    and     Duncan— Dr.     Hiden— Capt. 

Pleasants — Anecdotes    282-290 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
A  Quaint  Old  Character— Preaching  to  a  Cold  Congre- 
gation       291-297 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
Some    Old    Time    Preaching— "My    Sheep    Know   My 

Voice-Ah!"    297-304 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
Ludicrous  Incidents  in  Churches— Turpentine  and  Ton 

Timber— Dr.  Byrd,  and  Old  Time  Recollections 304-311 


10  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XL.  pages. 

Br.  McKee's  Black  Horse — Dr.  Edwards  Before  Henry 
Clay— Iron  Wheel— Mr.  William  Holland— Col. 
Fagg— A  Laughable  Incident  312-319 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
Farming  and   Some   Other   Things — Plowing   a  Mule 

that  Brayed   320-327 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
Uncle    Ed.    Crews    and    his    Nice    Young    Preacher — 
Brother  Sanctum's  Good  Talk — Seymour  W.  Whit- 
ing       328-333 

CHAPTER  XLI II. 
How  Quick  He  Was  Whipped — Knowing  How — Visit 

to  Macedonia  334-338 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 
Rip     Van     Winkle — How     They     Woke     Him— Wake 

County  Schools  339-347 

CHAPTER  XLV. 
Mother  of  Dr.  Byrd  Writes  a  Letter — Got  up  His  Own 
Quarrel — Could  Not  Provoke  His  Wife — Misunder- 
standing—Capt.  Woodall  348-354 

CHAPTER  XLVI. 

Meditating  on  Brighter  Days — Yankee  Cruelties 355-361 

CHAPTER  XLVIL 
School  Advantages  of  the  Present  Day — The  Old  Time 
School  and  Teacher — Some  of  My  Boys — Tlie  Fall- 
ing Stars — Gander  Pulling  361-367 

CHAPTER  XLVIII. 
Wyoming  Hotel — Tongue  That  Waggles — The  Young 

Temperance  Orator  and  His  Mule  Back  Ride 368-376 

CHAPTER   XLIX. 
Reasons  for  Drinking — Some  Other  Things  as  Bad  as 
Drinking — Displaying  Gallantry — Col.  W.  A.  Yarbor- 
ough    376-386 

CHAPTER   L. 
Gov.  W.  W.  Holden — Dedication  of  Edenton  Street  M. 
E.   Church — Some  Who  Took  Part  in  the  Ceremo- 
nies—Preacher Who  Had  to  Pay  His  Bill— What  Is 
Man  ?    386-397 

CHAPTER  LI. 
Gen.  Joseph  Lane's  Visit  to  Raleigh — Samuel  Whita- 

ker  and   Jim  Miller— Some  Old  Pamphlets 398-405 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS.  11 

CHAPTER  LI  I.  PAGES. 
Centennial  of  Methodism  in  Raleigh — Bishop  Marvin's 
Sermon — Judge  Fowle's  Great  Speech — The  Old  Sis- 
ter Who  Would  Praise  the  Lord 405-412 

CHAPTER  Lin. 
Dangers  of   the   Money   Power — Fight  Ahead — Davie 

Street   Fight    413-420 

CHAPTER  LIV. 
Gov.  Reid's  Reception — Young  Man  Who  Got  Sick — 
Whiskey  and  Water  Questions — Bone-Set  and  Blue 
Mass    421-430 

CHAPTER  LV. 
Some   Old   Time   Newspaper    Presses — Church    Trial 
Fifty  Years  Ago — Singing  Geography— Prof.   John- 
son and  Father  John  Monroe 431-438 

CHAPTER  LVI. 
Homely    People — Some   Ugly    Good-Looking    People — 

Bill  Jinks  and  Jim  Jones 439-444 

CHAPTER  LVII. 
Isfews  and  Observer's  Tenth  Anniversary — Paper  and 
Its  Editor — Capt.  E.  C.  Woodson — Stronach's  Joke — 
Joining  Temperance  Society   445-454 

CHAPTER  LVIII. 
Philip  S.  White — Various  Things — The  Gobbler  That 

Sat  on  Cymlins    454-462 

CHAPTER  LIX. 
Dave  Lewis — Mr.  Peck's  Ducks — Boxing  Up  a  Fellow 

Who    Got   Drunk — Forgetfulness— Dr.    Bailey 463-471 

CHAPTER  LX. 
How  I  Kept  Out  of  the  War — Man  Who  Did  Not  Be- 
lieve in  Foreign  Missions — Tried  to  Play  Infidel. . . .   471-479 

CHAPTER  LXI. 
The  Moon  Man  Interviews  One  of  our  Higher  Critics.   480-483 


INDEX  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 

Log  Cabin  Parade  in  1840 6 

Old  Time  Militia  Captain 25 

Starting  to  School — First  Speech 40 

Rev.  William  E.  Pell,  D.D 53 

Gen.  L.  O'B.  Branch,  Killed  at  Sharpsburg  Sept.  17,  1862. .     73 

Uncle  Billy  Going  Through  a  Window 91 

Aunt  Abby  House  Shaking  a  Stick  at  Gen.  Lee 114 

Isham  Lloyd  With  His  Basket 135 

Is  dat  de  Way  dat  Paper  Reads? 162 

Anti-Prohibition   Speech    199 

Mrs.  Shamlin — "Last  Time  He  Called  Me  Honey" 215 

Handy  Loekett   243 

Spanking  a  Yankee 251 

Negro  Shouting — Dog  Barking   267 

"I  Cried,  Nannie,  O,  Nannie" 302 

Mule  I  Used  to  Plow 322 

Yankee  Bummer 359 

Ex-Gov.  W.  W.  Holden 387 

Hon.  Josiah  Turner 416 

Hon.  Josephus  Daniels,  Editor  Xeics  and  Observer 447 


WHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

When  I  Was  a  Boy — Log  Cabin  Campaign — Old- 
Time  Fourth  of  July. 

^^Wlien  I  was  a  boy/'  is  the  prefix  that  old  men 
are  apt  to  use  when  they  begin  a  story,  and  it  is 
so  natural  they  should,  because  ^'when  I  was  a 
bo} ''  is  the  j)eriod  of  all  others  of  a  life  time  that 
furnishes  incidents  which  are  to  be  indelibly  fixed 
in  the  mind  and  which  in  all  after  life,  will 
oftenest  be  remembered.  As  much  as  we  desired 
to  be  men,  when  we  were  boys,  we  can't  help  lov- 
ing the  boy  period,  now  that  we  are  getting  so 
far  away  from  it;  indeed,  our  happiest  moments 
are  when  we  wander  back  to  those  scenes  and  those 
brighter  prospects  which,  in  boyhood,  were  so 
lavishly  presented  to  the  eager  eye  and  the  in- 
gathering mind. 

Sixty-three  years  ago  this  writer  was  a  boy, 
with  all  of  a  boy's  propensities  to  see,  hear  and 
enjoy  what  was  going  on,  and  the  things  he  then 
saw  were  more  marvelous,  the  sounds  sweeter,  and 
the  people  better,  than  any  things  or  sounds  or 
people  he  has  seen  or  heard  or  known  since;  upon 
the  same  principle  that  the  first  circus  a  boy  sees 
is  always  the  best,  because  the  like  of  it  was  never 
seen  before.  The  grand  entry,  the  crack  of  the 
ring-master's  whip,  the  somersault  and  jest  of  the 
clown,    and    the    bare-back    riding,    so    wonderful 


2  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

when  first  seen,  become  very  tame  affairs  after 
awhile,  not  comparing  at  all  with  what  they  were 
"when  I  was  a  boy,''  and  we  are  bound  to  con- 
clude the  whole  circus  business  has  degenerated. 
The  first  circus  still  holds  its  own,  and  all  the 
aggregations  and  combinations  which  the  best 
shows  can  get  up  do  not  hold  a  light  to  it. 

To  the  writer,  Kaleigh  was  a  bigger  place  sixty- 
three  years  ago  than  it  is  to-day.  It  is  true  there 
were  only  three  or  four  thousand  people  living 
here,  whose  houses  were  scattered  here  and  there 
in  groves,  three  or  four  churches,  a  market-house 
just  built,  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  wagon 
shelter,  a  dozen  stores  or  so,  on  Fayetteville  street, 
and  as  many  more  on  cross  streets,  with  here  and 
there  a  tailor  shop,  a  shoe  shop,  a  coach  shop  or 
a  blacksmith  shop;  two  hotels,  the  "Guion,"  where 
the  Agricultural  Department  is,  and  the  "Law- 
rence," where  the  post-office  now  stands,  and  the 
State  House;  I  say  it  is  true  that  Raleigh,  as  to 
size,  population  and  wealth,  was  but  a  village  then 
as  compared  with  its  present  dimensions  and  pre- 
tensions ;  yet,  to  the  boy  who  came  from  the  country 
it  was  the  biggest  town  he  had  ever  seen,  and  to 
his  mind  it  was  hard  to  conceive  how  it  could  be 
bigger  or  prettier.  And  to  this  day  it  is  difficult 
for  the  old  man  to  convince  himself  that  his  boyish 
estimates  of  the  city  were  not  correct;  for,  added 
to  the  other  attractions,  Raleigh  had  a  cake  and 
a  candy  shop;  also  a  soda  fountain,  from  which 
gushed  the  cold,  sparkling  "soda  water"  which  was 
the  delight  of  the  small  boy,  as  it  was  the  custom 
in  those  days  with  the  candidates  to  treat,  on  all 
public  occasions,  either  to  cakes,  candy  or  "sody." 

Speaking  of  candidates,  reminds  me  that  sixty- 
three  years  ago  the  country  was  stirred  from  Maine 
to  the  land  of  alligators  by  a  presidential  campaign. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  6 

Martin  Vau  Buren,  the  president,  was  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate,  opposed  by  General  William 
Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio.  Unfortunately  for  them, 
and  the  fate  of  their  candidate,  the  friends  of  Van 
Buren  referred  to  Harrison  as  living  in  the  back- 
woods, in  a  log  cabin  and  drinking  hard  cider,  in- 
stead of  being  able  to  delight  himself  with  the 
sparkling  wine ;  and  that  he  ate  from  wooden  bowls 
with  wooden  spoons,  and  wore  a  coon-skin  cap,  etc. 
It  w^as  just  what  the  Whigs  wanted  to  make  cam- 
paign enthusiasm;  and  indeed  they  needed  some- 
thing, for,  although  General  Harrison  had  made 
some  fame  as  the  hero  of  Tippecanoe,  he  did  not 
possess  suflflcient  magnetism  to  draw  around  him  a 
successful  following,  even  with  John  Tyler,  of  Vir- 
ginia, as  a  running  mate;  besides.  Van  Buren  had 
made  a  good  president,  and  being  the  acknowledged 
protege  of  ^^Old  Hickory,"  it  was  regarded  as 
morally  certain  he  would  be  re-elected.  The  worst 
things  the  Whigs  could  say  against  Van  Buren 
was  that  he  was  extravagant,  and  as  a  proof  of  it, 
it  was  claimed  that  he  stirred  his  coffee  with  a 
silver  spoon  and  had  a  silver  teapot,  cream  pitcher, 
etc. 

The  Whigs  caught  on  to  the  idea  of  making  an 
appeal  to  the  poor  people  by  contrasting  the  hum- 
ble life  of  their  candidate  with  the  extravagance 
and  high  living  of  Van  Buren.  The  Whig  party,  al- 
though the  party  of  wealth,  posed  for  the  time  as 
the  poor  man's  party,  and  the  public  speakers  ad- 
vocating the  election  of  Harrison  always  referred 
to  him  as  the  candidate  of  the  poor  man.  So,  no 
sooner  had  the  Democratic  politicians  said  that 
Hairison  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  than  did  the  Whigs 
begin  to  say,  "We  told  you  so.  Harrison  is  a 
poor  man,  and  the  poor  man's  friend.  What  fur- 
tlier  proof  is  needed?     Don't  the  Democrats  say  he 


4  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

lives  in  a  log  cabin?"  So,  the  people  cried  out, 
"Hurrah  for  the  log  cabin  man  I''  And  then  the 
issue  Avas  made  between  the  poor  man  in  the  log 
cabin,  and  the  rich  man  in  the  White  House;  the 
one  drinking  hard  cider  out  of  a  Avooden  mug,  the 
other  champagne  out  of  a  silver  goblet;  one  drink- 
ing pot  liquor  out  of  a  wooden  spoon  and  the  other 
stirring  his  tea  with  a  silver  spoon. 

The  tariff  and  other  issues,  which  had  served  to 
make  the  political  cauldron  boil,  in  other  cam- 
paigns, were  relegated  to  back  seats,  and  silver 
spoons,  wooden  spoons,  log  cabins,  coon-skins  and 
hard  cider  furnished  the  Whig  campaigners  with 
that  kind  of  oratory  which  made  the  strongest  ap- 
peal to  the  poorer  classes.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  campaign  Van  Buren's  friends  were  put  on  the 
defensive.  When  the  Whig  orator  would  grow 
eloquent  in  his  praises  of  ''Tippecanoe  and  Tyler 
too,''  and  tell  the  people  how  economically  the  gov- 
ernment would  be  administered  by  the  hero  of  the 
log  cabin,  as  contrasted  with  the  extravagance  of 
the  man  in  the  White  House  who  stirred  his  coffee 
with  a  silver  spoon,  the  welkin  would  ring  with 
"hurrah  for  Tip  and  Ty.'  and  good  times!"  The 
Democrats  would  reply  by  saying  the  silver  spoons 
did  not  belong  to  Van  Buren,  but  were  the  property 
of  the  government,  and  that  all  the  presidents  had 
used  them.  "That  may  be  true,"  replied  the  Whigs, 
"but  the  time  has  come  when  extravagance,  even 
in  the  White  House,  should  cease,"  and  so  pub- 
lic sentiment  swarmed  to  the  log  cabin  like  bees 
to  a  hive. 

The  great  campaign  culminated  in  North  Caro- 
lina in  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  most  en- 
thusiastic gatherings  here,  in  Raleigh,  ever  seen, 
before  or  since.  Representatives  and  delegations 
from  every  county  in  the  State,  came  here  by  scores 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  O 

and  hundreds,  and  each  county  delegation  brought 
a  log  cabin  built  upon  wheels;  and  each  cabin  had 
a  stick  and  dirt  chimney,  on  which  was  stretched 
a  coon  skin,  while  near  the  door  of  each  cabin  hung 
a  bread  tray,  a  wooden  spoon  and  a  string  of  red 
pepper.  On  the  day  of  the  grand  rally,  the  pro- 
cession of  log  cabins  reached  from  the  Governor's 
palace  (now  the  Centennial  Graded  School),  to 
St.  Mary's,  and  to  the  mind  of  the  boy,  as  then 
seen,  there  could  not  have  been  less  than  five  hun- 
dred people  to  every  log  cabin.  Two  counties  sent 
miniature  ships,  rigged  up,  instead  of  log  cabins, 
which,  to  us  boys,  were  verj^  great  sights,  as  there 
were  sailors  aloft,  speaking  through  trumpets  as 
they  passed,  telling  of  the  good  times  ahead  w^hen 
the  party  of  extravagance  had  been  turned  out  and 
the  ''x)oor  man's  party''  should  come  into  power. 
The  late  Governor  Holden  made  himself  very  con- 
spicuous as  he  rode  on  one  of  the  cabins.  Only  a 
short  while  thereafter  he  changed  his  politics,  and, 
purchasing  the  Standard  from  Thomas  Loring,  be- 
gan his  career  as  editor  of  a  Democratic  paper. 
Governor  Graham  jocularly  remarked  that  Hol- 
den's  transition  from  the  Whigs  to  the  Democrats 
was  so  sudden,  after  his  ride  on  the  top  of  a  log 
cabin,  that  his  breeches  were  still  smeared  with  the 
log  cabin  rosin,  when  he  leaped  into  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 

Two  or  three  incidents  during  the  parade  of  the 
log  cabins  on  the  streets  furnished  amusement. 
One  was  the  breaking  down  of  a  wagon  on  which 
was  the  printing  press  of  the  Raleigh  Eegister  with 
*H^ld  Stephen"  working  off  an  edition,  while  a 
printer  stood  at  his  case  setting  type.  A  wheel 
ran  off  and  down  came  Stephen,  press,  typo,  types 
and  all  in  a  heap.  The  Democrats  flocked  to'^the 
scene  of  disaster  and  hurrahed  for  Van  Buren,  re- 


whitaker's  reminiscences, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  i 

garding  the  break-down  as  a  sure  prophecy  of  the 
defeat  of  the  Whig  party.  Washington  Williams, 
a  young  man  who  was  raised  eight  miles  south  of 
Kaleigh,  and  gloried  in  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat, put  himself  in  the  lead  of  a  few  young  men 
who  rode  up  and  down  the  line  of  the  procession 
and  made  all  the  noise  they  could  shouting  for  Van 
Buren.  It  was  all  good  natured  and  nobody 
seemed  to  care. 

During  the  campaign  the  Whigs  of  Raleigh  built 
a  log  cabin  on  a  vacant  lot  about  where  Tucker's 
store  is.  It  was  called  the  Wigwam,  and  in  it 
many  a  rousing  meeting  was  held  and  many  a  bar- 
rel of  hard  cider  drank  by  the  ardent  admirers  of 
"Old  Tippecanoe."  In  the  centre  of  this  wig^^am, 
suspended  from  the  joists  was,  what  the  Whigs 
claimed  to  be  a  Democratic  scalp.  It  was  a  handful 
of  hair  which  Dr.  William  Gr.  Hill  pulled  from  the 
head  of  a  Democratic  candidate  for  the  Legislature, 
in  a  little  affair. 

The  Democrats  tried  to  break  the  force  of  the  log 
cabin  and  hard  cider  enthusiasm  by  saying  that 
Harrison  Avas  no  fighter ;  that,  at  the  battle  of  Tip- 
pecanoe he  fled  from  the  field  in  a  red  petticoat, 
and  hid  in  a  hollow  log.  A  great  many  believed 
the  story,  and  it  was  worked  for  all  it  was  worth ; 
and  so,  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  red  pet- 
ticoat hanging  over  a  log  cabin  in  the  morning, 
which  mischievous  boys  placed  there  at  night.  As 
the  Cumberland  county  log  cabin  was  being  brought 
to  Raleigh,  the  delegation  which  accompanied  it 
was  very  much  infuriated  on  finding,  at  Barclays- 
ville,  twenty-four  miles  south  of  this  city,  a  red 
petticoat  suspended  over  the  road  under  which  the 
cabin  was  to  pass.  Reports  said  they  hauled  it 
down  and  tore  it  into  shreds,  to  the  great  amuse- 
ment of  the  Democratic  ladies  who  felt  thev  had 


8  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

contributed  some  things  at  least,  to  the  campaign 
fun. 

Of  course  everybody  knows  that  the  log  cabin 
and  hard  cider  campaign  won — that  Harrison  was 
inaugurated — that  he  lived  only  a  month  and  was 
succeeded  by  John  Tyler,  who  served  as  President 
three  years  and  eleven  months,  during  which  time 
the  Whigs  had  plenty  of  time  to  lament  over  the 
mistake  they  had  made  in  making  Tyler  Vice-Presi- 
dent. A  new  cabinet  had  to  be  appointed,  and 
prominent  Whigs  insisted  that  Mr.  Webster,  who 
was  a  member  of  Harrison's  cabinet,  should  be  a 
member  of  Tyler's  cabinet.  They  said  he  could 
afford  to  do  it,  as  his  fame  w^as  already  made. 
"Fame!"  replied  Webster.  "Why,''  said  he,  "I 
was  up  in  New^  England  recently,  near  my  old  home, 
and  conversed  with  one  of  my  father's  old  neigh- 
bors. He  said  he  knew  my  father  and  mother  and 
the  children,  calling  over  their  names,  but  did  not 
call  mine.  Thinking  he  overlooked  me,  uninten- 
tionally, I  ventured  to  ask,  ^Didn't  Mr.  Webster 
have  a  boy  they  called  Daniel.'  ^I  believe  there 
was  a  boy  they  called  Daniel,'  he  said,  ^but  I  don't 
know  what's  become  of  him.  He  went  down  to 
Boston,  I  believe,  and  I've  never  heard  of  him.  I 
don't  guess  he's  ever  come  to  much.  But  the  old 
man's  other  children  all  turned  out  well."  Fame 
indeed,"  sneered  Mr.  Webster,  "when  I  am  not 
known  by  the  people  among  whom  I  was  raised." 

A  Fourth  of  July,  sixty-three  years  ago,  was  a 
big  event  here  in  Raleigh,  for  it  brought  to  the  city 
the  farmers,  their  wives  and  their  children.  In  the 
Capitol  Square,  or  in  some  grove,  a  stand  was 
erected  and  seats  were  improvised  to  accommo- 
date all  who  came.  The  Declarations  of  Indepen- 
dence were  read  and  a  thrilling  oration  delivered, 
and,  oftentimes,  a  big  barbecue  prepared  to  feed 


INCIDENTS    AND   ANECDOTES.  9 

the  multitudes.  At  night  there  would  be  an  illu- 
mination of  Fayetteville  street  from  the  Capitol  to 
the  Governor's  mansion,  the  whole  to  conclude 
with  fire  works.  It  was  a  great  day  for  us  country 
boys  and  the  town  people  seemed  happy  because 
they  had  furnished  a  day  of  pleasure  to  their 
country  friends.  I  will  w^rite  of  other  matters  in 
my  next,  as  recollection  serves  me,  hoping  by  these 
sketches  to  give  your  readers  some  glimpses  of  the 
times  that  were  very  real  sixty  odd  years  ago. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Of  Some  Neivspapers  and  Their  Editors — A  Mar- 
riage— Old  Stephen — The  Temperance  Move- 
ment Begun. 

The  first  newspaper  in  w^hich  I  took  any  interest 
was  a  small  sheet  printed  by  Leonidas  Lemay,  son 
of  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Lemay,  the  proprietor  and 
editor  of  the  Raleigh  Star,  which  was  published  on 
Salisbury  street  in  an  old  building  that  has  been 
removed  of  late  years,  and  become  a  workshop.  I 
cannot  now  remember  the  size  of  the  "Microcosm,'' 
the  paper  above  referred  to,  but  suppose,  as  I  now 
think  of  it,  that  it  was  about  the  size  of  a  sheet  of 
foolscap.  It  discussed  such  matters  as  would  in- 
terest boys  and  girls,  but  the  articles  bore  the  ear- 
marks of  more  experienced  journalism  than  Leoni- 
das, though  a  very  smart  boy,  was  supposed  to  pos- 
sess. But,  an  experience  of  over  forty  years  in 
the  printing  business  has  long  since  established 
in  me  the  opinion  that  two  or  three  years  in  the  old 
time  printing  office  would  develop  even  the  "devil" 
into  a  right  smart  bo}^,  at  an  early  age,  and,  if  he 


10  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

stuck  to  his  business  closely,  he  would  average  a 
long  way,  in  the  course  of  time,  above  the  more 
fortunate  boys  who  spent  their  first  years  at  school, 
and  did  not  have  to  play  printer's  devil.  Therefore, 
I  am  prepared  to  believe  that  Leonidas  Lemay, 
young  as  he  was,  did  most  of  the  work,  mental  and 
mechanical,  on  that  bright  little  paper  which  once 
filled  so  large  a  place  among  the  youth  of  Ealeigh 
and  the  surrounding  country. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing,  there  were 
three  very  ably  edited  papers  in  Raleigh,  to- wit: 
The  '^Raleigh  Register,"  the  'aialeigh  Star,''  both 
Whig  in  politics,  and  the  ^'Raleigh  Standard," 
democratic,  of  which  latter  paper  the  late  ex-Gov- 
ernor W.  W.  Holden  was  the  editor,  having  pur- 
chased that  paper  from  Thomas  Loring,  Esq.,  im- 
mediately after  the  Van  Buren  defeat  in  1840. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  write  anything  like  a 
sketch  of  Governor  Holden's  career  as  editor  of  the 
Standard;  were  I  to  attempt  such  a  thing  I  could 
not  do  it  better  than  to  say  he  made  a  splendid 
editor,  and  was,  from  the  time  he  became  estab- 
lished in  the  editorial  chair  until  about  1858,  when 
he  began  to  aspire  to  congressional  and  guberna- 
torial honors,  the  king  maker  of  his  party,  and  be- 
cause of  the  splendid  services  he  had  rendered  that 
party  he  certainly  was  entitled  to  preferment  at 
the  hands  of  those  whom  he  had  helped  to  make, 
politically.  At  the  Democratic  convention  held  in 
Charlotte  in  1857,  to  make  a  nomination  for  Gov- 
ernor, Judge  Ellis  received  the  nomination  over 
Governor  Holden,  because  one  man,  who  held 
proxies  for  nineteen  western  counties,  voted  them 
solidly  for  Judge  Ellis.  Wake  county  sent  a  large 
delegation,  the  Avriter  among  the  number,  to  that 
convention,  instructed  to  vote  for  Holden,  which 
they  did.     The  Standard  supported  Judge  Ellis  for 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  11 

Governor,  but  it  was  understood  that  the  editor 
had  become  very  greatly  soured  on  his  party  be- 
cause of  its  ingratitude  to  him.  At  that  time,  and 
for  some  years  previous  thereto,  Frank  I.  Wilson, 
Esq.,  was  associate  editor  of  the  Standard  and  did 
good  service  in  the  interest  of  Mr.  Holden's  aspira- 
tions for  office,  and  was  withal  a  good  writer  and 
a  very  clever  gentleman.  He  went  to  Harper's 
Feriy,  Va.,  to  see  old  John  Brown,  the  murderer 
and  \he  inciter  of  negro  insurrection,  hung,  and 
brought  home  with  him  as  a  relic,  which  was  prized 
very  highly  in  the  Standard  office,  a  piece  of  the 
rope  that  broke  old  John's  neck.  It  was  still  on 
exhibition  at  that  office  at  the  beginning  and  dur- 
ing the  war;  and  since  old  John  has  got  to  be  a 
saint  and  his  soul  keeps  marching  on,  it  would  be 
a  proper  thing  to  place  that  section  of  rope,  if  it 
is  still  in  existence  and  can  be  identified,  in  the 
State  Museum,  with  a  tag  attached  giving  a  short 
history  of  old  John  and  his  murderous  career,  and 
especially  of  the  attempt  he  was  making,  at  the 
time  he  was  arrested  and  hanged,  to  bring  about 
a  wholesale  rising  of  the  negro  population  of  the 
South  to  murder  the  whites.  That^  or  something 
of  the  sort  should  be  done,  for  our  children  are 
required  to  study  books  that  speak  of  old  John  as 
a  martyr  who  died  for  his  country,  and  make  those 
who  took  part  in  the  arrest  and  hanging  of  him 
a  set  of  murderers.  Our  children  should  know  the 
truth,  and  the  truth  is,  John  Brown  was  a  mur- 
derer, and  was  justly  hanged;  and,  he  is  either  a 
fool  or  an  ignoramus  of  the  Sut  Lovengood  stripe, 
who  tries  to  make  a  saint  of  that  fomenter  of  strife 
and  bloodshed.  But,  no  more  of  that  now,  though 
later,  I  may  take  up  the  matter  again. 

The    Ealeigh    Register    established    by    Joseph 
Gales,  was  perhaps,  at  the  time  of  which  I  write, 


12  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

better  known  and-  more  generally  read  than  any 
other  State  paper.  Its  editor  was  Weston  R. 
Gales,  a  man  of  great  popularity,  both  as  editor 
and  private  citizen,  and  whenever  on  the  street  he 
was  sure  to  be  the  centre  of  a  crowd  of  gentlemen 
wlio  flocked  about  him  because  of  his  amiableness 
of  character  and  cheerfulness  of  disposition.  He 
had  a  great  big  heart  that  w^as  easily  moved  to 
deeds  of  charit^^,  never  letting  an  opportunity  pass 
to  act  the  Good  Samaritan,  even  if  it  took  the  last 
dime  out  of  his  own  pocket,  and  he  had  to  borrow^ 
another  from  some  one  else  to  complete  the  work 
begun. 

The  old  Register  office  was  a  brick  structure 
which  extended  from  near  Salisbury  street  east 
tOAvard  Fayetteville  street,  and  on  the  north  side 
of  that  building  was  a  very  popular  meeting  place, 
in  the  summer,  where  many  a  political  campaign 
was  planned,  and  many  a  good  yarn  was  spun.  As 
a  school  boy  I  stopped  there,  many  a  time,  to  listen 
to  such  men  as  Badger,  Rayner,  Gales,  Bat.  Moore 
and  others  who  were  wont  to  congregate  there. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  a  fellow  and  his  girl 
who  had  walked  some  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to 
Raleigh  to  be  married  attracted  the  attention  of 
Mr.  Gales.  "Those  people  over  there  at  the  court- 
house seem  to  be  in  trouble,"  he  remarked.  Mr. 
Badger  in  a  jocular  manner,  said :  "Gales,  step  over 
there  and  see  what's  the  trouble,  and  come  back 
and  let  us  know."  He  did  so,  and  found  that  after 
putting  the  contents  of  their  purses  together,  the 
would-be  bride  and  groom  lacked  just  fifteen  cents 
of  being  able  to  purchase  their  license.  In  his 
stentorian  voice  Mr.  Badger  said  to  them :  "Come 
over  here,  ye  lovers,  and  Ave'll  fix  you  up!"  They 
came  smiling,  the  fifteen  cents  was  made  up,  the 
license  secured,  a  magistrate  called  over  from  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  13 

old  Lawrence  Hotel,  and  the  twain,  who  a  few 
moments  before  were  looking  so  forlorn,  were  duly 
married.  The  magistrate  remarked  that  to  kiss 
the  bride  was  all  he  ever  charged  for  marrying  peo- 
ple, but,  in  that  case  he  thought  Mr.  Gales  ought 
to  have  the  honor  as  well  a.s  the  pleasure  of  saluting 
the  bride,  as  he  was  the  man  who  made  the  first 
move  toward  raising  the  fifteen  cents.  The  bride- 
groom said  he  thought  so,  too ;  so  he  led  her  toward 
Mr.  Gales,  who,  after  handing  his  hat  to  the  magis- 
trate to  hold,  very  gallantly  performed  that  part 
of  the  ceremony  that  completed  the  marriage. 

Speaking  of  the  Kegister,  we  must  not  overlook 
Stephen,  the  colored  pressman,  for,  in  his  opinion, 
if  not  in  the  opinion  of  the  balance  of  mankind,  the 
Kegister  could  not  move  a  wheel  unless  he  were 
about.  Stephen  was  a  very  consequential  negro, 
took  on  the  airs  of  Chesterfield,  when  in  the  pres- 
ence of  white  gentlemen,  but  assumed  the  character 
of  autocrat,  adAiser,  admonisher  and  dictator  when 
among  his  oAvn  color.  He  was  the  pressman  of  the 
Eegister  office,  and  in  his  estimation,  that  fact 
placed  him  on  the  roll  of  honor;  and  Governor 
Morehead,  then  the  occupant  of  the  Governor's 
Mansion,  could  not  have  felt  the  burden  of  party 
responsibility  any  more  than  he  did.  Stephen 
heard  all  that  was  said  in  the  office  by  the  editor, 
and  the  politicians  who  went  there  to  discuss  the 
questions  of  the  day,  but  he  told  nothing.  He  con- 
sidered himself  one  of  them,  and,  his  idea  was,  that 
everything  he  heard  discussed  was  a  secret  that 
should  be  kept  from  the  ears  of  ''Loco  Focos." 

After  the  death  of  Weston  R.  Gales,  Major 
Seaton  Gales,  his  son,  became  the  editor,  but  later 
on  Mr.  John  W.  Syme,  of  Petersburg,  Va.,  pur- 
chased the  paper  and  published  it  up  to  and  during 
the  war. 


14  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

The  8ta7'  was  a  good  paper,  but  the  Kev.  Thomas 
J.  Lemay,  the  editor,  was  a  conscientious  Chris- 
tian gentleman,  and  not  caring  to  be  harrassed 
with  politics  and  politicians,  he  sold  his  paper, 
in  the  earlj,  .fifties,  to  William  C.  Doub,  Esq., 
son  of  Rev.  Peter  Doub,  one  of  North  Carolina's 
most  distinguished  divines.  Mr.  Doub  soon  found 
that  his  new  life  was  not  congenial  to  his  refined, 
retiring  nature,  and  while  he  endured  rather  than 
enjo^^ed  the  excitements  of  a  political  life,  and  made 
withal  a  first-class  paper,  he  availed  himself  of  the 
first  opportunity  that  presented  itself  to  get  away 
from  scenes  that  he  could  not  take  interest  in. 

In  1846  the  temperance  question  became  a  pop- 
ular movement  in  Raleigh,  drawing  into  it  men  of 
all  classes  and  conditions  of  society,  and  laid  the 
foundation,  in  part,  of  the  very  decided  movement 
which  we  are  now  witnessing  in  this  city.  In  the 
Bennehan  grove,  the  square  lying  between  Morgan 
and  Hargett  and  between  Person  and  Bloodworth 
streets,  I  heard  the  first  temperance  address  to 
which  I  had  ever  listened.  The  occasion  was  a 
temperance  mass-meeting  and  barbecue,  and  the 
principal  speaker  was  a  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
Zeigenfuss — (I  don't  know^  that  I  spell  his  name 
right) — who  came  here  from  Baltimore,  and  rep- 
resented the  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society. 
Others  made  speeches,  and  enthusiasm  ran  very 
high.  Some  of  the  men  who  were  taking  an  active 
part  in  the  movement  were  William  T.  Bain,  James 
M.  Towles,  Patrick  McGowan,  James  Puttick,  J.  D. 
Royster,  William  Stronach,  E.  C alburn,  Sylvester 
Smith;  all  of  whom,  as  well  as  nearly,  if  not  quite 
all,  who  were  present  that  day,  have  long  since 
gone  to  the  land  of  spirits;  but  the  movement  of 
which  the  men  of  that  date  were  leaders,  has  con- 
tinued to  leaven  public  sentiment,  until  we  have 
now  the  prospect  of  seeing  that  of  which  they  but 
faintly  dreamed. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  15 

Very  soou  after  that  Wasbingtonian  movement, 
the  Sons  of  Temperance,  a  secret  order,  swept  over 
the  country,  and  "Old  Concord  Division,  No.  1," 
was  chartered  here  in  Raleigh,  of  which  division 
the  writer  became  a  junior  member,  or  rather  a 
"Cadet  of  Temperance,''  in  1847.  I  was  nothing 
but  a  boy,  but  the  good  influence  of  that  organiza- 
tion has  not  been  forgotten  in  the  fifty-six  years 
that  have  gone  by.  I  was  a  country  boy,  here  at 
school,  and  temptations  to  drink  were  presented  on 
every  turn,  and  seeing  that  town  boys  could  drink 
and  play  cards,  I  felt  indeed  like  a  green-horn  when 
I  had  to  decline,  because  I  did  not  know  how  alco- 
holic liquors  tasted  nor  know  one  card  from  an- 
other. I  can  not  say  how  long  I  might  have  held 
out  against  these  temptations  if  I  had  received  no 
attention  from  those  citizens  w^ho  were  trying  to 
save  the  boys.  Suffice  it  to  say,  I  was  led  into  the 
temperance  society,  and  thereafter,  while  here  at 
school,  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  resist  the  tempta- 
tions, which  otherwise  might  have  overcome  me. 

In  1847,  I  think  it  was,  A.  M.  Gorman,  Esq.,  then 
foreman  of  the  Register  office,  began  the  publication 
of  The  Spirit  of  the  Age,  as  the  organ  of  the  Sons 
of  Temperance  in  this  State.  It  was  a  small  sheet 
at  first,  but  was  enlarged  from  time  to  time  until 
it  became  one  of  the  largest  four-page  papers  in 
North  Carolina,  and  secured  a  circulation  that  was 
unprecedented  in  the  history  of  newspapers  in  the 
South.  Added  to  its  temperance  feature,  it  had 
its  literary  feature — also  containing  in  each  issue 
a  well-written  story  by  authors  reared  in  our  own 
State.  Mr.  Gorman  made  money  on  the  venture, 
and,  until  the  war  approached,  and  discussion  of 
those  questions  which  led  to  secession  diverted  the 
minds  of  the  people  from  temperance,  his  circula- 
tion continued  to  grow.     But  the  dark  cloud  on 


lij  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  political  horizon,  soon  overshadowed  the  coun- 
try, and  the  temperance  question  was  largely  for- 
gotten, or  at  least  neglected,  and  of  course  The 
Spirit  of  the  Afje  rapidly  lost  patronage.  During 
the  war,  Mr.  Gorman,  having  sold  the  paper  to 
John  G.  Williams,  Esq.,  became  associate  editor  of 
the  Daily  Confederate^  which  position  he  held  until 
his  death,  which  occurred  the  last  year  of  the  war. 
Mr.  Williams  kept  The  tSjnrit  of  the  Age  alive,  as  a 
bomb-proof,  until  after  the  war,  when  it  ceased  to 
be  published.  Afterwards,  another  paper  was 
started  by  the  same  name,  w^hich  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  writer  at  a  later  date,  but  The  Spirit 
of  the  Age  which  sowed  the  first  seeds  of  temper- 
ance in  our  State  was  the  one  of  which  Alexander 
M.  Gorman  was  the  founder  and  the  very  able  edi-* 
tor. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

The  Live  Giraffe^  and  How  J  Came  to  he  an  Editor — 
Gov.  Bragg — Henry  Clay's  Visit  to  Raleigh — 
S>onie  Incidents. 

Speaking  of  newspapers,  I  am  reminded  to  say 
that  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand,  eight 
hundred  and  fifty-three,  just  fifty  years  ago,  I 
bought — or  rather,  my  father  bought  for  me — an 
interest  in  a  paper  called  The  Live  Giraffe^  a  paper 
that  Wesley  Whi taker,  Esq.,  recently  deceased,  had 
been  running  for  a  year  or  so  at  a  loss,  I  suspect, 
and  we  paid,  that  is,  father  did,  three  hundred  dol- 
lars for  the  privilege  of  getting  into  trouble  and 
expense,  minus  any  profits;  a  worse  bargain,  as  I 
now  think  it  over,  than  Uncle  Sam  made  in  paying 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  for  the  Philippines.     I 


IXCILENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  17 

don't  remember  how  the  trade  originated — whether 
I  made  a  banter  or  was  bantered ;  but  this  much  I 
do  remember,  that  when  I  came  to  look  at  the  sub- 
scrixDtion  books,  and  saw  how  many  new  subscribers 
had  recently  been  taken  in,  it  wasn't  long  before  I 
was  taken  in,  too,  and  my  three  hundred  dollars, 
in  a  short  while,  had  gone  into  a  rat  hole.  The 
good  showing  which  my  partner  was  able  to  make 
came  about  after  this  fashion.  Granville  County 
had  been  thrown  into  the  Fourth  Congressional 
District.  Hon.  Abraham  W.  Venable  had  for  a 
number  of  years  represented  the  Fifth  District  in 
Congress,  but  by  the  new  arrangement  his  county 
was  thrown  into  the  Fourth  District.  When  the 
nominating  convention  was  held,  Mr.  Venable  ex- 
pected to  receive  the  nomination,  as  he  had  been 
doing  in  the  Fifth  District ;  but  lo,  and  behold,  A. 
M.  Lewis,  Esq.,  a  young  lawyer  of  Louisburg,  re- 
ceived the  nomination^  whereupon  Mr.  Venable  an- 
nounced himself  as  an  independent  Democratic  can- 
didate. Of  course  the  Standard  supported  Mr.  Lewis, 
the  Democratic  nominee,  and  Mr.  Venable  was  w^ith- 
out  a  mouthpiece,  in  the  way  of  a  paper,  here  at  the 
capital.  The  matter  was  finally  arranged  between 
him  and  Wesley  Whitaker,  the  editor  of  the  Live 
Giraffe,  and  for  the  next  month  or  two  the  fur  was 
made  to  fly  in  all  directions.  Every  friend  of  Mr. 
Venable  subscribed  for  the  Giraffe,  and  clubs  Avent 
m  like  hot  cakes,  all  with  the  cash  accompanying, 
and,  before  the  election,  the  books  were  full. 
Hence  the  good  showing  that  was  made,  when  for 
the  first  time  I  was  permitted  to  look  upon  the 
foundation  upon  which,  I  was  led  to  believe,  a  for- 
tune would  rise  up  to  bless  me  and  mine — especially 
the  old  father  who  was  to  pay  for  the  one-half  in- 
terest in  the  paper. 

The  matter  presented  itself  thus :     Five  hundred 


18  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

subscribers  in  one  month  with  the  cash !  At  that 
rate  six  thousand  subscribers  would  be  received  in 
a  year.  Six  thousand  subscribers  at  two  dollars 
meant  twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  advertising  that  could  be  done  in  a  paper 
with  six  thousand  subscribers.  The  thing  looked 
like  a  gold  mine,  and  it  pleased  my  father  immense- 
ly, when  I  gave  him  a  statement,  made  from  the 
books,  and  informed  him,  as  I  had  been  informed, 
that  when  my  name  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Live 
Giraffe^  railroads  would  furnish  me  with  free 
passes  and  hotel  men  would  drum  me  for  the  privi- 
lege of  entertaining  me,  while  I  was  going  through 
the  country,  enjoying  the  profits  of  a  paper  with 
six  thousand  subscribers,  and  an  advertising  pat- 
ronage that  would  pay  all  expenses. 

I  bit.  And  who  would  not  have  bitten  such  a 
bait?  But  it  did  not  take  me  more  than  one  week 
to  find  out  that  I  was  badly  bitten.  When  the  first 
Saturday  evening  came,  instead  of  there  being  fifty 
dollars  in  the  treasury,  as  I  supposed  there  would 
be,  fifty  cents  couldn't  be  found  to  meet  the  de- 
mands (in  the  persons  of  printers)  that  stared  us 
in  the  face.  During  the  week,  however,  we  had 
received  dozens  of  notes  like  this: 

^^The  time  for  which  we  subscribed  expired  with 
the  election,  and  as  we  took  the  Giraffe  as  a  cam- 
paign paper  simply,  you  will  please  discontinue,  as 
we  do  not  wish  to  renew  our  subscription.  Wish- 
ing you  abundant  success,  we  are,"  etc. 

So  it  turned  out,  all  those  who  had  subscribed 
for  Mr.  Venable's  sake  stopped  their  papers,  and 
the  twelve  thousand  dollar  prospect  faded  out  en- 
tirely, nothing  remaining  but  occasional  free  rides, 
and  a  dinner  now  and  then  at  a  hotel  free  of  cost, 
provided  a  half  column  was  devoted  to  the  land- 
lord's ham  and  ogji^s. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  19 

It  was  not  a  great  while  after  purchasing  a  half 
interest  that  my  partner  came  to  me  one  clav,  and, 
in  the  spirit  of  a  magnanimity  that  I  ought  never 
to  forget,  told  me  that  he  was  willing  for  me  to  take 
his  half  of  the  concern,  as  he  wished  to  get  out  of 
the  printing  business — "take  it  for  nothing,  only 
pay  the  debts  of  the  concern,  which  amounted  to  a 
few  dollars  only."  By  the  time  I  had  settled  those 
debts  I  had  paid  out  quite  as  much  as  I  paid  for 
my  half. 

Next  year  was  1854,  and  Hon.  Thomas  Bragg 
was  the  Democratic  nominee  for  Governor.  It  oc- 
curred to  me  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  change 
the  name  of  my  paper  to  The  Metropolitan ,  and  go 
right  into  politics.  Mr.  Bragg,  who  called  in  to 
see  me,  thought  it  would  be  a  capital  hit.  By  all 
means  call  it  The  Metropolitan^  and  swing  right  out 
into  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  make  a  reputation 
as  a  writer,  he  went  on,  and — (I  waited  to  hear 
what  he  was  going  to  promise) — and  it  won't  be 
long,  he  wound  uj),  before  you  will  rank  among  the 
best  writers.  I  thanked  him  for  the  compliment 
and  assured  him  that  The  Metropolitan  should  be 
made  a  ^'brag''  paper.  He  smiled  and  left  me. 
Bragg  was  elected  Governor,  but  the  Metropolitan 
adventure  was  a  failure,  for  the  reason  that  the 
subscribers  did  not  know  how  to  pronounce  the 
name  of  the  paper.  They  said  they  just  couldn't 
do  it,  and  they  were  opposed  to  having  a  paper  com- 
ing into  their  homes  they  could  not  pronounce  the 
name  of.  I  did  not  blame  them,  and  as  business 
was  becoming  slack,  I  concluded  to  tie  up  and  rest 
awhile,  which  I  did  in  the  fall  of  that  year. 

I  must  not  omit  to  tell  the  reader  that  Gov. 
Bragg's  opponent  was  Col.  Alfred  Dockery,  known 
in  those  days  as  the  ^'Old  Fox,"  as  he  was  said  to  be 
the  toughest  nag  in  a  political  race  of  any  man  of 


20  WHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

his  time.  Governor  Bragg  found  him  to  be  ever  on 
the  alert  and  going  all  the  time.  He  wculd  remain 
on  the  ground  where  they  had  spoken,  often  times 
until  night,  and  then  stay  somewhere  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Bragg  would  make  some  of  the  distance 
toward  the  next  appointment  that  evening,  and 
would  flatter  himself  that  he  would  be  ahead  in  the 
morning.  He  would  rise  early  to  carry  out  his  pur- 
pose, but  would  learn  that  Dockery  had  gone  on  an 
hour  or  two  before  he  had  got  out  of  bed.  Sure 
enough,  he  would  find  him  there  when  he  arrived 
at  the  speaking  place  of  that  day.  The  distribu- 
tion of  the  public  lands  was  the  question  they  dis- 
cussed, and  Mr.  Dockery  in  his  droll  way  would 
make  his  audience  smile  when,  instead  of  saying 
share,  he  would  say  "every  State  is  entitled  to  its 
^sheer'  of  the  public  lands."  Be  it  said  to  the  credit 
of  the  two  men,  they  made  a  very  able  campaign. 

Governor  Bragg  made  a  most  excellent  Chief 
Magistrate,  and  was  followed  by  Governor  Ellis, 
upon  whom  fell  the  responsibility  of  marshalling 
the  forces  of  the  Old  North  State  to  arms  when, 
during  his  administration,  the  State  passed  the  or- 
dinance of  secession. 

Before  I  get  too  far  away  from  the  starting  point, 
I  want  to  tell  your  readers  that  in  1844  Henry 
Clay,  "the  mill  boy  of  the  Slashes,"  the  pride  of  old 
Kentucky,  the  most  eloquent  man  of  his  da^^,  was 
the  Whig  nominee  for  President,  and  he  made  a 
visit  to  Raleigh  and  spoke  to  a  vast  crowd  of  people 
from  the  west  portico  of  the  capitol.  All  the  big 
Whig  politicians  of  the  State  were  here,  and  such 
an  ovation  as  Mr.  Clay  received  had  never  before 
been  accorded  to  any  man.  He  was  worthy  of  it 
all,  for  he  was  indeed  a  great  man — one  of  that 
trio  of  giants  whose  names  will  live  as  long  as  time 
lasts — Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun — all  of  whom 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  21 

were  then  old,  but  still  regarded  as  leaders  in  the 
discussion  of  those  perplexing  questions  which 
eventualh'  resulted  in  war. 

It  was  during  Mr.  Clay's  visit  to  Ealeigh  that  he 
wrote  the  letter  opposing  the  annexation  of  Texas 
to  the  Union,  which,  it  was  claimed,  brought  about 
his  defeat  for  the  Presidency.  That  might  or  might 
not  have  been  true ;  the  majority  of  the  people  were 
of  the  opinion  that  the  unexpected,  w^hich  happened 
when  the  Democrats  nominated  James  K.  Polk,  of 
Tennessee,  instead  of  Van  Buren,  as  the  Whigs 
hoped  and  expected,  was  the  true  cause  of  Mr.  Clay's 
defeat.  Mr.  Clay  could  have  beaten  Van  Buren,  as 
General  Harrison  did  in  1840;  but,  when  the  con- 
vention at  Baltimore  nominated  Mr.  Polk,  it  is  said 
that  Mr.  Clay  remarked  that  he  was  beaten  again. 

Mr.  Polk  got  the  credit  of  the  annexation  of  Texas 
to  the  Union,  but,  in  reality.  President  Tyler  had 
already  taken  the  matter  in  hand  during  his  term, 
and  Mr.  Polk  followed  up  the  movement,  in  that 
direction,  already  begun  by  him. 

President  Polk  was  the  first  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  nation  to  pay  a  visit  to  Raleigh,  which  he  did 
for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  Chapel  Hill  com- 
mencement, after  shaking  hands  with  all  the  people 
in  and  around  the  capital. 

Before  dismissing  Mr.  Clay's  visit  to  Raleigh,  I 
yAU  mention  two  incidents  of  the  occasion.  A  man 
with  a  stentorian  voice  who  occupied  a  seat  on  the 
west  portico  of  the  capitol,  where  Mr.  Clay  stood, 
made  himself  conspicuous  by  shouting  at  the  top 
of  his  voice :  "Fellow-citizens,  you  had  better  keep 
vour  hands  on  your  pocket-books — there  are  Loco 
Focos  about!"  That  man  was  Wm.  G.  Brownlow, 
of  Tennessee,  and  no  one  regretted  the  foolish  re- 
mark more  than  did  Mr.  Clay. 

Another  incident  was,   that  a  pound-cake  sent 


22  WHITAKER'S    REMIXISCENCESj 

from  Fayetteville,  to  be  eaten  by  the  crowd,  was 
lield  up  b}'  some  distinguished  man,  to  the  gaze  of 
the  great  assemblage,  while  he  made  these  remarks : 
^^This  cake,  fellow-citizens,  was  sent  by  a  Mrs.  W — , 
to  be  eaten  on  this  occasion,  but  as  there  is  not- 
enough  to  go  round,  a  few  of  us  will  eat  it  and  think 
of  you  all  while  doing  so/'  The  crowd  cheered  as  if 
the  proposition  was  satisfactory,  and  the  cake  dis- 
appeared. 

I  shall  never  forget  Mr.  Clay's  face,  his  long, 
sandy  hair,  his  flashing  eyes,  and  above  all  his  soul- 
stirring  eloquence.  Democrat,  as  I  was,  I  could 
not  help  feeling  a  desire  deep  down  in  my  heart 
that  he  might  be  elected ;  but  he  wasn't,  for  the  cam- 
paign ditty  of  that  day  which  said 

''  Polk  and  Dallas  is  the  pizen 
For  Henry  Clay  and  Frelinghuysen," 

turned  out  to  be  a  true  prophecy. 

It  is  said  of  Mr.  Clay  that  he  once  remarked,  he 
had  rather  be  right  than  to  be  President,  and  his 
great  life,  which  in  the  main  was  worthy  of  imita- 
tion, bears  us  out  in  the  opinion  that  he  really 
meant  what  he  said. 

I  may  say,  in  closing  this  sketch,  that  John  Tyler, 
as  much  as  the  Whigs  disliked  him,  made  a  good 
President,  and  left  affairs  in  a  good  shape  for  his 
successor.  So  that,  although  the  Mexican  War 
came  on  during  Mr.  Polk's  administration,  he  had 
comparatively  easy  sailing.  As  a  last  remark,  I 
will  say,  the  Mexican  War  developed  the  timber  for 
tAvo  Presidents — Zachary  Taylor  and  Franklin 
Pierce.  General  Scott  also  was  a  candidate  in 
1852,  with  Governor  Graham,  of  this  State,  as  a 
running  mate,  but  like  Mr.  Clay  he  got  a  beating; 
and  that,  too,  by  one  of  the  brigadiers  in  his  cam- 
paign from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  23 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Tlie  Old-Tlme  Militia — Tlie  Raleigh  Military  and 
the  'New  Bern  Celehration — Funneling  Men 
With  Whiskey — Gen.  John  WinsloiVy  Fayette- 
i'ille^  y.  C. 

When  I  was  a  boy  I  dearly  loved  to  attend  the 
militia  ''musters/'  as  they  were  termed,  for  tw^o  or 
three  good  and  sufficient  reasons:  First,  because 
it  was  a  day  off  from  the  plowhandles,  and  therefore 
a  holiday  to  the  boy;  secondly,  because  I  liked  to 
see  the  men  ''muster,''  and  lastly,  because  old  Mrs. 
Stokes  and  old  Mrs.  Smith,  two  very  motherl}^  old 
ladies,  who  stood  yery  high  in  the  estimation  of  the 
small  boy,  generally  carried  a  chest  full,  each,  of 
ginger  cakes;  to  say  nothing  of  the  watermelons  a 
small  boy  would  fall  heir  to  in  watermelon  season. 
I  acquired  most  of  my  martial  spirit  from  the  sto- 
ries I  heard  from  the  old  colored  nurse,  whose  recol- 
lections ran  back  to  the  latter  days  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  and  who  could  entertain  us  chil- 
dren by  the  hour,  telling  us  of  those  stirring  times 
w^hen  "Old  Master"  and  the  "Young  Masters"  went 
to  the  wars,  and  "Old  Mistress"  and  the  "Young 
Mistresses"  would  cling  to  them  and  cry  w^hen  going 
away ;  but  how  happy  all  were  on  their  return ;  and 
I  used  to  think  how  nice  it  would  be  to  be  a  man 
and  go  to  the  war,  too.  And  so  ver^^  early  in  life  I 
took  the  greatest  delight  in  going  to  the  "musters." 

As  I  am  writing  of  je  olden  times,  I  might  as  well 
give  a  description  of  the  old-time  way  our  State 
militia  performed  their  military  duties.  They  had 
company,  battalion,  regimental  and  general  mus- 
ters. A  company  Avas  made  up  of  all  males  between 
the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five,  who  lived  within 


24  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  bounds  of  a  certain  territory,  and,  as  my  recol- 
lection serves  me,  a  company  was  required  to  mus- 
ter eyery  three  months.  The  law  required  that  all 
the  men  in  ranks  should  carry  fire-arms  or  pay  a 
fine.  A  good  man}'  citizens  had  old  cavalry  pistols 
— holsters  of  the  flint  and  steel  kind — and  these 
were  frequently  used  in  the  place  of  rifles  and  shot- 
jD'uns,  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  law,  as  to  hav- 
ing fire-arms.  The  pistol  frequently  had  stuck  into 
its  muzzle  a  corn  stalk,  walking-cane  or  umbrella, 
to  give  it  length,  and  it  was  a  sight  to  which  a 
circus  would  be  a  tame  show  to  see  a  company  go- 
ing through  the  manual  of  arms  with  such  impro- 
vised weapons.  Sometimes  the  pistol,  in  ordering 
and  shouldering  arms,  would  slip  from  the  corn 
stalk  and  fall  to  the  ground,  and  the  unlucky  sol- 
dier would  cry  out,  "Hold  on,  till  I  get  my  gun 
fixed."  The  captain  and  the  lieutenants  were  re- 
quired to  be  uniformed,  but  no  new  uniforms  were 
ever  bought.  The  uniforms  they  wore  had  come 
on  down  from  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  in  regu- 
lar succession.  When  a  new  officer  was  elected,  he 
would  get  the  uniform  of  his  predecessor.  Some- 
times, but  these  cases  were  rare,  the  coat  and  pants 
fitted,  and  the  new  officer  cut  a  swell  in  the  old 
clothes,  but  in  most  cases  the  uniforms  were  either 
too  large  or  too  small. 

It  was  a  funny  sight  to  see  a  great  big  two-hun- 
dred pounder,  with  a  stomach  that  could  not  be 
compressed,  and  whose  height  was  equal  to  that  of 
Saul,  the  son  of  Kish,  strutting  at  the  head  of  his 
company  with  his  pants  coming  to  about  the  top  of 
his  socks,  while  his  coat,  after  he  had  used  a  buck- 
skin lacing  string,  lacked  a  foot  or  more  of  meeting 
over  his  breast,  and  the  sleeves  reaching  to  just  be- 
low the  elbow.  But  what  cared  he?  He  Avas  cap- 
tain and  he  was  uniformed,  and  the  uniform  he 


INCIDENTS    AND    ANECDOTES. 


25 


Old  Time  Militia,  Etc 

"  I  don't  think  he  has  any  storage  room  to  spare,  he's  about 
to  bust  now.''    (Page  26.) 


26  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

wore  had  the  impress  of  honorable  age,  whether  it 
fitted  or  not. 

As  for  the  drilling,  I  need  only  say  that  if  a  small 
boY  was  anywhere  nearby  when  a  right  or  left  wheel 
was  ordered,  he  stood  in  danger  of  being  run  over, 
for  Texas  cattle  could  hardly  get  into  worse  confu- 
sion than  followed  such  an  order. 

Sometimes  the  company  would  keep  a-wheeling 
until  the  tw^o  wings  would  meet,  notwithstanding 
the  repeated  command  to  halt !  Then  the  sergeant 
would  try  to  get  the  men  into  line  again,  and  he 
would  say:  ''Look  to  the  right  and  dress!"  One 
fellow  would  say,  "Can't  dress  here,  too  many  wo- 
men about.''  Another  would  say,  "I  dressed  be- 
fore I  left  home."  Then,  in  a^  stentorian  voice 
would  come  the  command,  "Silence  in  ranks!" 
When  some  fellow  would  sing  out,  "Now  you've  got 
it,  Jim ;  if  you  don't  stop  that  Avind-milf  o'  yourn, 
the  cap'n  will  chaw  you  up  and  svf allow  you."  "He 
might  do  the  chawing,  but,  from  his  appearance  I 
don't  think  he  has  any  storage  room  to  spare;  he 
is  about  to  bust  now."  A  laugh  follov.  ed,  in  which 
the  captain  was  obliged  to  join,  when  it  was  moved 
and  carried  that  the  captain  should  buy  Bill  Jones' 
barrel  of  cider  and  treat  the  crov/d.  Whereupon 
it  was  declared  in  martial  tones  that  the  next  regu- 
lar muster  would  take  place  three  months  from 
that  day  on  the  same  grounds,  and  unless  all  were 
present  at  the  roll-call,  armed  and  equipped  accord- 
ing to  law,  they  would  be  fined  to  the  full  extent 
thereof;  and,  with  a  w^hoop,  the  ranks  would  break, 
to  partake  of  Bill  Jones'  cider,  to  Avhich  the  captain 
was  going  to  treat. 

A  regimental  or  general  muster  was  no  improve- 
ment on  the  company  muster,  as  to  fire-arms,  drill, 
etc.  Of  course  order,  to  some  extent,  prevailed 
while  the   colonel   or  general   Avas  reviewing    the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  27 

troops;  but  as  for  marcliing,  I  have  seen  Fayette- 
ville  street,  when  a  militia  brigade  was  marching 
along,  in  such  confusion  that  it  was  impossible  for 
a  looker-on  to  tell  whether  there  w^as  any  line,  for 
every  man  was  looking  out  for  himself;  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  confused  mass  might  be  heard  such 
expressions  as  these :  "Gee,  Mr.  Hicks !"  "Haw,  Joe 
Fuller!''  "Quit  stepping  on  my  heels,  Bill  Jones!'' 
and  much  more  of  the  same  tenor.  As  I  see  the 
matter  now,  the  militia  system  was  a  burlesque, 
but,  as  I  have  shown,  it  had  its  funny  side,  and  that 
suited  us  boys. 

As  long  ago  as  I  can  remember,  Raleigh  had  her 
organized  and  well-drilled  companies  of  volunteers. 
The  "Raleigh  Blues"  and  the  "Raleigh  Rifles"  had 
their  day  away  back  in  the  forties,  and,  later  on, 
came  the  Oak  City  Guards,  commanded  by  Capt. 
William  H.  Harrison,  and  the  Independent  Guards, 
commanded  by  Capt.  John  Quincey  De  Carteret. 
These  were  fine  companies,  and  did  valiant  service 
on  many  a  holiday  occasion,  when  the  only  enemies 
they  had  to  encounter  were  well-filled  tables,  tubs 
of  lemonade,  and  so  forth.  I  do  not  now  remember 
that  either  company  was  ever  ordered  out  by  the 
Governor,  until  the  war  came  on.  I  was  a  member 
of  the  Oak  City  Guards,  and  Avent  with  that  com- 
pany to  Wilmington,  New  Bern  and  other  places, 
and,  as  I  remember,  the  duties  of  those  occasions 
were  light,  while  the  hospitalities  were  immense 
and  varied.  At  New  Bern,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
completion  of  the  Atlantic  and  North  Carolina 
Railroad,  to  that  town,  companies  from  Raleigh, 
Favetteville  and  Wilmington  were  in  the  parade, 
and  partook  of  the  hospitalities  of  that  most  hospit- 
able city.  It  was  a  big  occasion,  and  the  festivi- 
ties which  the  good  people  had  arranged  for,  were 
so  numerous  that  a  visitor  could  not  help  finding  a 
place  to  suit  his  taste.     The  boys  were  having  a 


28  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

good  time,  fcr  a  uniform  was  a  passport  and  an 
open  sesame  wherever  seen,  and  the  danger  was 
that  one  would  be  foundered  or  made  drunk.  In- 
deed, I  heard  before  I  left  the  town,  that  the  order 
had  been  issued,  from  headquarters,  that  no  one 
was  to  leave  the  town  hungry  or  sober,  and  that  if 
a  fellow  wouldn't  drink  he  must  be  funneled.  I 
guess  there  v/as  some  truth  in  the  report,  for,  as  I 
was  passing  from  the  depot  at  night  to  the  Gaston 
House,  I  was  rudely  halted  at  a  pump,  near  the  old 
Washington  Hotel,  by  a  man  with  a  gun  in  his 
hands,  who  said,  ^'Consider  yourself  under  arrest !'' 
"By  whose  authority?''  I  asked.  "By  order  of 
King  Alcohol,"  he  replied,  at  the  same  time  push- 
ing me  toward  an  open  door,  through  which  came 
the  noise  of  a  struggle  inside,  and  a  voice  saying: 
"Funnel  him !  funnel  him !"  I  took  in  the  situation 
in  a  moment,  and  as  the  man  v/ho  had  arrested  me 
was  getting  into  position  to  assist  in  the  funneling 
process  (it  was  Joe  Arey,  of  Fayetteville,  they  had 
stretched  on  the  bed),  I  broke  and  ran,  and  under 
cover  of  the  darkness  made  my  escape.  I  saw  my 
friend  Arey  the  next  morning,  and  he  said  they  spilt 
enough  whiskey  over  and  about  him  to  make  an 
elephant  drunk,  but  they  did  not  get  any  of  it  into 
his  mouth. 

Col.  John  D.  Whitford,  the  v\^hole-souled,  big- 
hearted  president  of  the  Atlantic  and  North  Caro- 
lina Kailroad,  was  the  moving  spirit  in  getting  up 
that  great  occasion.  The  boys  had  their  fun  while 
there,  and  had  the  chance  to  have  become  drunken, 
over  and  over  again;  but  our  Captain,  the  late  Maj. 
E.  S.  Tucker,  often  remarked  afterward,  when 
speaking  of  the  occasion,  that  amid  all  the  festivi- 
ties he  did  not  have  a  man  who  drank  to  excess, 
while  many  drank  not  at  all.  As  I  think  of  that 
occasion  and  remember  that  forty-six  years  have 
flown,  and  that  most  of  those  who  participated  in 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  29 

the  scenes  and  festivities  of  those  April  days,  are 
sleeping  beneath  the  sod,  I  can  but  think  how  true 
it  is  that  life  at  most  is  but  a  span. 

Our  company  went  on  another  excursion — it  was 
to  Weldon — to  meet  some  distinguished  guest,  I  do 
not  remember  whom.  I  did  not  go,  but  I  furnished 
a  substitute,  who,  when  the  roll  was  called,  an- 
swered to  my  name,  and  so,  while  I  was  not  along 
with  the  boys,  my  name  went ;  and,  it  so  happened, 
that  when  my  name  was  called  one  morning,  after 
the  boys  had  been  feasted  and  toasted,  the  night  be- 
fore, the  man  who  wore  my  uniform  was  missing. 
A  search  being  made,  it  was  found  that  my  substi- 
tute was  drunk.  Being  a  temperance  man  myself, 
it  was  a  good  joke  the  boys  had  on  me  when  they 
returned,  that  I  got  drunk  by  proxy.  During  the 
war  many  a  poor  fellow  who  went  out  as  a  substi- 
tute fared  even  worse  than  did  my  substitute.  He 
came  back,  but  they  did  not. 

I  ought  to  have  said,  when  telling  above,  of  the 
funneling  business  in  New  Bern,  that  Gen.  John 
Winslow,  of  Fayetteville,  a  man  who  loved  fun  and 
would  have  a  good  time,  was  the  instigator  of  it, 
and  it  was  all  done  at  his  "headquarters,"  as  he 
termed  his  room. 

General  Winslow  was  an  old-time  Whig,  and 
when  the  political  fight  was  on,  he  did  as  good  ser- 
vice for  his  man  and  his  party,  as  any  other  speaker 
(and  he  was  an  orator)  ;  but,  when  the  fight  was 
over  he  rejoiced  with  the  side  that  won,  saying,  "If 
we  are  not  happy  our  Democratic  friends  are,  and 
so  we'll  help  them  to  rejoice."  I  happened  to  be 
in  Fayetteville  on  the  occasion  of  a  great  torch-light 
procession  and  speaking,  with  which  the  Demo- 
crats celebrated  the  election  of  Pierce  and  King. 
At  one  point  where  the  crowd  halted  for  a  speech, 
who  should  step  forth  but  General  Winslow,  amid 
the  shouts  of  the  thousands  who  stood  around  with 


30  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

torches  in  hajid.  The  General  began  by  saying  it 
was  one  of  the  proudest  occasions  of  his  life,  for  the 
reason  that,  in  the  recent  election,  he  foresaw  that 
our  people  were  soon  to  be  of  one  mind  and  one  polit- 
ical faith,  as  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  Pierce  and 
King  had  received  254  electoral  votes,  w^hile  Scott 
and  Graham — Scott  the  hero,  and  Graham  the 
statesman  and  honored  ex-Governor  of  this  proud 
old  commonwealth — had  only  received  42  votes." 
About  that  time  a  voice  from  the  crowd  asked: 
''General,  are  we  Whigs  beaten  as  bad  as  that?" 
To  which  he  replied  in  a  very  solemn  tone,  ^'I  am 
sorry  to  tell  you,  my  friend,  that  everything  has 
gone  Democratic  from  h — 1  to  Texas,"  when  the 
crowd  moved  and  the  General,  amid  shouts  and 
laughter,  retired. 

As  I  am  in  Fayetteville  just  now,  I  will  tell  the 
reader  how  the  town  used  to  look,  to  a  country  boy, 
who  went  there  with  a  load  of  cotton  or  other  pro- 
duce, in  the  days  when,  from  Mt.  Airy,  Greensboro, 
Asheboro  and  Salisbury  and  all  intermediate  points, 
wagons  went  by  scores  and  hundreds,  carrying  to 
the  head  of  navigation  corn,  wheat,  cotton  and 
other  products,  and  carrying  back  salt,  iron,  mo- 
lasses, sugar,  cheese  and  other  groceries,  which 
came  up  to  Fayetteville  on  boats  from  Wilmington, 
our  principal  seaport.  It  will  not  be  a  stretching 
of  truth  to  say  that  from  the  foot  of  Haymount  to 
the  creek  bridge,  toward  Campbelltown,  there  would 
not  be  less,  some  days,  than  jBlve  hundred  wagons 
and  carts,  all  bringing  produce  and  carrying  back 
groceries,  dry  goods  and  spun  cotton.  To  the  small 
boy  the  street  was  a  sight  to  be  remembered.  In  a 
future  sketch  I  may  return  to  Fayetteville,  and 
then  I  will  speak  of  some  of  those  merchants  and 
those  distinguished  citizens,  who,  in  the  long-ago, 
made  the  old  town  so  famous  in  the  days  of  her 
i>reat  prosperity. 


INCIDENTS    AND   ANECDOTES.  31 


CHAPTER  Y. 

One  Horse  PuJJing  the  State  House — Yearling  Up 
In  the  Air — Deems^  Tucker^  Moran,  Closs  and 
the  Spelling  Boy. 

My  first  sight  of  the  present  Capitol  was  when, 
as  I  remember  it,  the  walls  were  about  eight  or  ten 
feet  high  above  the  ground.  Having  never  seen 
stone  dressing,  it  was  indeed  a  sight  to  me  to  look 
on  and  see  how  quickly  the  skilled  v/orkmen 
changed  the  rough  into  the  smooth  stone,  and  how 
easily  the  great  hewn  stones  VN^ere  lifted  into  posi- 
tion. Look  any  way  I  might  there  vere  booths, 
underneath  which  men,  with  paper  caps  on  their 
heads,  vrere,  with  mallet  and  chisel,  making  the 
chips  and  sparks  fly.  And  that  w-as  not  all  that 
furnished  interest  to  the  country  lad.  There  was 
running  from  the  rock  quarry  to  the  Capitol  Square 
a  tram  read,  on  which  ran  a  car  drawn  by  a  horse, 
and  thi  loa.ds  of  stone  Avhieh  that  hoj'ce  pulled  were 
simply  immense;  but  the  interest  centered  in  the 
fact  that  that  one  horse  was  doing  all  the  pulling, 
and  was  expected  to  move  all  the  stone  it  would 
take  to  build  the  State  House.  I  have  heard  that 
he  did,  though  I  do  not  vouch  fo:?  the  ti'uth  of  the 
matter.  I  sav/  a  colored  man  moving  a  house  some 
time  ago,  and  a  small  mule  was  turning  the  wind- 
lass that  did  the  pulling.  The  negro  was  bragging 
on  the  strength  of  his  mule,  and  seemed  to  think  he 
was  performing  a.  wonderful  feat;  but  when  I  told 
him  that  one  horse,  tradition  said,  pulled  the  State 
House  about  a  mile,  he  dropped  his  head  and  looked 
at  me  from  under  his  flopped  hat,  and  said :  ^'Boss, 
I  gives  it  up.''  But  I  heard  him  muttering  to  him- 
self as  the  mule  went  ^rc-and,  and  the  house  kept 


32  WHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

inching  along :  ^'Fore  God,  dat  v/as  a  pulling  horse, 
for  sho'  nuffi''  Before  I  left,  I  explained  to  him 
that  the  horse  pulled  the  stone  of  which  the  State 
House  was  built,  a  load  at  a  time,  and  thus  re- 
lieved his  mind  of  the  strain,  when  he  said :  ''Boss, 
I'm  so  glad  you  'splanified  the  matter,  case  as 
you's  a  preacher,  I  just  no'd  it  wouldn't  dun  for 
me  to  told  enny  body  that  horse  story,  as  comin' 
from  you." 

How  many  times  we,  carelessly,  it  may  be,  make 
and  leave  unexplained,  false  impressions.  In  my 
young  days,  I  used  to  attend  camp-meetings  at  Old 
Buckhorn  Church,  in  Chatham  County,  near  which 
lived  a  very  prominent  darkey,  then  a  slave,  named 
Ben  Partridge.  Uncle  Ben  was  a  patriarch  as  well 
as  an  apostle,  and,  during  the  camp  meetings,  it  was 
allotted  to  him  to  look  after  the  colored  portion  of 
the  congregation.  Under  a  vast  arbor  there  was  a 
pulpit,  in  front  of  which  was  an  altar  for  the  whites, 
and  in  the  rear  one  for  the  colored.  Both  races 
heard  the  sermon,  and  v/hen  the  white  preacher  be- 
gan to  call  for  penitents  in  front.  Uncle  Ben,  in 
clarion  tones,  called  for  ''mourners"  in  the  rear 
altar;  and  the  slain  of  the  Lord  were  always  more 
numerous  in  Uncle  Ben's  altar  than  in  the  white 
altar,  for  the  reason  that  Uncle  Ben's  sheep  knew 
his  voice  and  ahvays  came  when  he  called.  Uncle 
Ben  had  a  son  named  Dick,  and  to  him  was  allotted 
the  most  difficult  duties,  in  the  time  of  meeting. 
For  instance,  if  there  was,  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
audience,  ^'a  high  headed  upstart,"  as  Uncle  Ben 
denominated  every  young  buck  v/ho  shied  off  and 
looked  insolent,  you  might  hear  the  old  patriarch's 
voice  saying :  ^^Dick,  you  see  dat  fool  lookin'  nigger 
down  dar,  dat's  putten'  on  dem  airs;  go  rite  out 
dar  and  bring  him  to  ae  mourner's  bench,  if  you 
have  to  tie  him."    And  Dick,  it  must  be  said  to  his 


INCIDENTS    AND   ANECDOTES.  33 

credit,  always  brought  in  his  ''nigger";  when  the 
old  man  would  say :  ''Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant ;  but  you  must  go  out  and  do  so  again,  and 
what  you're  gwine  to  do,  do  quickly."  On  one  oc- 
casion a  mourner,  instead  of  coming  to  the  altar, 
had  knelt  down,  or  rather,  laid  down  flat  on  his 
back,  out  in  the  congregation,  and  his  cries  at 
length  attracted  Uncle  Ben's  attention.  As  soon 
as  he  saw  the  mourner,  he  called  for  Dick,  and,  in 
an  authoritative  tone,  said  to  him :  "Dick,  dus  you 
see  dat  mourner  lying  out  dar ;  he's  wun  of  de  slain 
of  de  Lord,  dat  fell  among  thieves,  as  it  were;  go 
right  out  dar,  like  de  good  Sa-mary-tan,  and  take 
him  on  yer  shoulder  and  fotch  him  rite  up  here,  and 
lay  his  head  on  dis  dog- wood  root,  and  get  down 
and  pray  fer  him,  and  den  you'll  know  he  is  bin 
prayed  for."  And  Dick  brought  him,  according  to 
instructions,  and  it  was  not  long  before  Uncle  Ben 
was  heard  to  say:  '^Bless  de  Lord,  he's  comin' 
thru !" 

I  said  above  we  sometimes  make  and  leave  unex- 
plained impressions  that  are  false.  We  do  it 
thoughtlessly,  it  may  be,  yet  harm  is  often  done 
all  the  same.     At  the  time  of  w^hich  I  write,  Eev. 

P. A. was   the  pastor   of  the   Buckhorn 

church  and,  consequently,  the  j)astcr  of  Uncle  Ben ; 
and  no  sheep  ever  loved  a  shepherd  more  or  fol- 
lowed one  closer  than  did  Uncle  Ben  his  pastor, 
until  one  August  a  storm  of  wind  sw^ept  over  the 
Buckhorn  hills,  mightily  tearing  down  the  forests. 

A  few  days  after.   Brother  A^^ ,   the  pastor, 

stopped  at"  Uncle  Ben's  cabin  to  hear  his  account 
of  the  destructions  of  the  recent  storm,  which  was, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  very  highly  colored.     When 

Brother  A. ought  to  have  said,  ^'I  never  heard 

the  like  of  that,"  he  replied  by  saying :  ^^I  v/as  in 
a  storm  once  that  did  worse  than  that;  after  the 


34  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

wind  quit  blowing,  I  saw  a  bull  yearling  still  up 
in  the  air  at  least  fifty  feet  high  above  where  I 
stood."  Instead  of  expl?ining  that  the  yearling 
was  alive  and  eating  grass  on  the  summit  of  a  Buck- 
horn  hill,  fifty  feet  high,  the  preacher  left  the  im- 
pression on  honest  old  Ben's  mind  that  the  wind 
took  the  yearling  up  during  the  storm,  and  when  it 
ceased  blowing  he  was  still  sailing  around  in  the 
air  some  fifty  feet  from  the  ground.  For  days  and 
weeks  the  old  negro  wrestled  v/ith  the  miracle; 
but  at  length  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was 
a  lie,  and  his  confidence  in  preachers  was  badly 
shaken.  The  preacher,  perhaps,  never  thuught  of 
the  matter  any  more,  for  it  v\as  a  little  joke  and 
literally  true;  but  it  did  its  work  in  weakening  the 
faith  of  one  of  ''these  little  ones,"  which,  of  course, 
he  had  no  idea  of  doing. 

It  was  at  old  Buckhorn  I  first  saw  and  heard 
Eev.  Charles  F.  Deems.  He  was  called  the  boy 
preacher  because  of  his  size,  as  compared  with  such 
men  as  Hezekiah  G.  Leigh,  David  B.  Nicholson,. 
Peter  Doub  and  other  stalwarts  of  the  ministry, 
who  had  been  and  were  prominent  in  those  days. 
Speaking  of  Dr.  Deems  brings  up  the  trying  period 
through  which  the  North  Carolina  Conference 
went,  and  which  came  very  near  disrupting  it  on 
more  than  one  occasion.  A  letter  was  written  from 
Raleigh,  away  back  in  the  forties,  for  the  Rich- 
mond Christian  Advocate,  under  the  heading  of 
''What  Makes  Infidels?"  signed  "Christopher  Dun- 
can." The  article,  it  was  said,  was  aimed  at  a  cer- 
tain gentleman  of  this  city,  and,  his  attention  be- 
ing called  to  it,  he  became  very  highly  offended. 
Mr.  Rufifin  Tucker,  father  of  the  late  Major  R.  S. 
Tucker,  was  the  gentleman,  and  the  article  to  which 
he  took  exceptions  he  thought  referred  to  him  and 
his  sons.     Dr.  Deems  did  not  admit  that  he  was  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  35 

author  of  the  letter;  on  the  contrary,  as  I  remem- 
ber, he  threw  the  burden  of  proof  upon  Mr.  Tucker 
to  establish  the  charge.  The  matter  threw  a  fire- 
brand into  the  church,  and  it  took  all  of  a  genera- 
tion to  repair  the  damage  which  grew  out  of  it.  All 
those  who  took  part  in  the  trial,  held  at  the  Con- 
ference in  Pittsboro,  in  1854,  are  gone  to  their  re- 
ward; and  though  they  greatly  differed  here,  at 
times,  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  are  at  peace  now,  and 
are  resting  from  their  trials  and  their  labors.  Dr. 
Deems  was  a  great  man  and  a  fine  preacher,  but  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  matter  to  which  I  refer 
did  immense  damage  to  the  Methodist  church  in 
North  Carolina.  The  ^^Christopher  Duncan"  let- 
ter, if  busybodies  had  not  meddled  with  the  matter, 
and  persuaded  Mr.  Tucker  to  believe  that  it  was 
aimed  at  him,  was  calculated  to  do  good ;  for,  w^hen 
sifted  to  the  bottom,  it  was  simply  a  plea  for  home 
religion,  while  showing  that  a.  lack  of  it  was  cal- 
culated to  destroy  the  faith  of  children  in  their 
parents;  and,  that  being  destroyed,  infidelity,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  would  follow.  The  result  of 
the  matter  was  the  family  in  time  drifted  from  the 
Methodist  church.  In  the  trial  of  Dr.  Deems,  Dr. 
Closs  was  his  principal  attorney,  and,  so  long  as  the 
two  men  lived,  they  remained  very  close  friends. 

Speaking  of  Dr.  Closs,  justice  requires  me  to 
say  that  he  was  one  of  the  strongest  preachers  of 
his  day,  and  perhaps  the  best  known  in  the  State. 
A  great  many  jokes  have  been  told  concerning  him, 
which,  in  Methodist  circles  have  been  repeated  until 
they  are  stale,  but  as  I  am  writing  for  others  be- 
sides Methodists,  I  Avill  venture  to  relate  one  of  the 
best  stories  I  remember,  to  which  the  Doctor  was  a 
party.  He  was  at  the  time  referred  to,  presiding 
elder  of  the  Wilmington  district,  and  Dr.  R.  S. 
Moran  was  serving  Front  Street  church  in  Wil- 


36  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

mington.  A  certain  good  sister  of  that  church  had 
been,  from  time  immemorial,  accustomed  to  shout 
during  the  preaching;  and  so  when  Dr.  Moran 
went  to  that  church  she  kept  up  her  old  custom, 
very  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  Doctor,  who  did 
not  believe  in.  shouting.  He  stood  it  for  a  few 
times,  but  at  length  he  told  his  stewards  that  un- 
less the  sister  ceased  shouting  he  would  have  her 
arrested  for  disturbing  public  worship.  The  stew- 
ards were  shocked,  for  to  them  it  seemed  nothing 
less  than  sacrilege  to  interfere  with  tiie  religious 
enjoyments  of  so  good  a  sister,  and  the  first  time 
Dr.  Gloss  went  to  Wilmington,  the  stewards  went 
in  a  body  to  him  about  the  matter,  expecting,  of 
course,  that  Dr.  Moran's  conduct  would  be  sharply 
censured.  But,  instead  of  censure.  Dr.  Gloss,  in 
his  inimitable  manner,  said :  "Dr.  Moran  is  right, 
for  any  body  who  will  shout  under  such  preaching 
as  he  does  ought  to  be  arrested.''  It  has  never  been 
told  me  whether  the  sister  shouted  any  more,  or 
not,  but  the  presumption  is,  vrhen  she  heard  of  the 
presiding  elder's  opinion  of  Dr.  Moran's  preach- 
ing, she  cooled  off. 

Dr.  Gloss  was  a  great  debater  and  a  hard  hitter, 
and  in  some  future  sketch  I  may  give  the  readers 
some  incidents  that  will  confirm  this  statement. 
He  was  as  gentle  as  a  lamb  if  you  approached  him 
on  the  gentle  side,  but,  wdien  he  was  challenged  for 
a  fight,  the  fight  would  surely  take  place  unless 
the  challenger  backed  down.  He  enjoyed  a  joke,  if 
told  on  some  one  else,  but  was  a  little  sensitive, 
sometimes,  vrhen  the  brethren  would  tell  one  on 
him.  He  had  the  good  sense,  hovrever,  aided  by 
his  mother  wit,  never  to  let  his  sensitiveness  be 
seen,  but  would  save  himself  by  some  witty  remark, 
which,  like  a  bucket  of  water  thrown  on  a  bomb 
shell,  Avould  extinguish  the  other  fellow's  joke,  and 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  37 

the  laiii>li  would  turn  to  bis  side.  He  once  said, 
wlien  alluding  to  the  many  coiLflicts  he  had  passed 
through,  that,  the  onh^  time  in  his  life  when  he  was 
at  a  loss  for  a  word  of  reply  to  a  remark,  Avas  in 
his  early  ministry.  He  was  riding  along  the  road 
and  came  to  a  school  hoiise.  The  children  were 
sitting  around  under  the  trees  studying  their  les- 
sons. A  little  boy,  with  a  blue  back  spelling  book, 
sat  near  the  road  side,  and  the  Doctor  as  he  rode 
along  close  to  the  young  idea,  thought  he  would 
have  a  little  past-time  with  him,  so  he,  looking  at 
the  boy,  said:  ^'B-a  ba-k-e-r-ker,  baker."  To  which 
the  little  boy  replied:  '^D-a-m-dam-p-h-oo-1  fool — 
dam  fool."  "I  had  no  reply  to  make,"  said  the 
Doctor,  ''but,  as  I  rode  along,  I  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  quarrels  of  this  life  could,  largely,  be 
avoided,  if  people  would  attend  to  their  own  busi- 
ness." And  in  that  the  Doctor  was  more  than  half 
right. 


CHAPTEK    VI. 

Starting  to  School— First  Teacher— First  Speech- 
First  Revival,  First  Sermon  and  First  Impres- 
sions. 

I  saw  a  little  boy  starting  to  school  a  few  morn- 
ings ago,  and  his  mother  was  carefully  arranging 
his  collar  and  brushing  his  hair,  saying  as  she  was 
putting  each  lock  and  ringlet  into  its  proper  place, 
''I  want  my  little  boy  to  be  ^mart  and  learn  his 
book,  and  be  mother's  little  man,"  and  the  scene 
and  the  mother's  words  brought  back  so  vividly  a 
similar  scene  and  similar  words,  sixty  odd  years 
ago,  when  this  writer  was  about  to  make  his  first 
day  at  school,  and  a  mother,  long  since  gone  to 


38  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

her  home  in  the  skies,  was  giving  the  finishing 
touches  to  toilet  and  hair,  and  telling  her  little  boy 
how  much  she  loved  him,  and  how  anxious  she  was 
that  he  w^ould  learn  his  book,  and  be  a  good  boy, 
and  be  mother's  little  man.  Who  can  ever  forget 
the  mother  love,  the  mother  touch,  the  mother  so- 
licitude? And  what  man  will  ever  forget  the  high 
anticipations  which  were  inspired  by  the  mother 
talk  to  him,  when,  as  a  little  boy,  he  was  going  forth 
from  the  home  nest,  to  use  his  own  little  wings, 
preparatory  for  the  flight  that  would  take  him 
safely  through  life's  stormy  scenes? 

Speaking  of  going  to  school,  reminds  me  to  say 
that  the  children  of  to-day  are  blessed  in  compari- 
son with  those  of  sixty  years  ago,  vrhen  a  thirty  or 
sixty-day  school  was  all  that  the  average  country 
boy  or  girl  could  attend.  Now,  children  have  six, 
eight  and  ten  months'  schools,  and  the  average  boy 
has  as  good  a  chance  to  get  an  education  as  the 
children  of  the  rich  had,  in  my  boyhood  days;  and 
still  the  effort  is  being  made,  by  our  lawmakers, 
to  increase  the  facilities  and  lengthen  the  terms  of 
the  public  schools. 

The  first  school  I  attended  was  taught  by  Miss 
Harriet  McCullers,  away  back  in  the  thirties,  and, 
as  I  remember  her  now,  she  was  a  saint,  for  the 
little  children  looked  up  to  her  as  if  she  had  been 
an  angel,  sent  doAvn  to  tell  her  little  pupils  how 
good  they  ought  to  be,  and  to  teach  them  how  to  be 
good.  The  old  school  house  v  as  not  far  from  Mc- 
Cullers' Station,  on  the  Mills  Road,  south  of  this 
city.  It  was  a  log  hut,  with  stick  and  dirt  chim- 
ney, the  fireplace  being  nearly  as  wide  as  the  end 
of  the  hut ;  the  seats  were  benches  made  of  outsid.es, 
flat  side  up,  standing  on  four  legs  (when  one  leg 
was  not  broken  out)  ;  the  floor  was  laid  with  rough, 
undressed    lumber,    and    the    door    was    hung    on 


I^XIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  39 

wooden  hinges,  that  creaked  like  a  squediink  when 
opened  or  shut.  The  window,  that  afforded  light, 
when  the  door  was  shut,  w?.s  made  by  cutting  out 
one  log  across  the  end  of  the  hut,  and  a  plank, 
fastened  to  the  log  above,  by  leather  hinges,  was 
the  shutter  to  the  window. 

Inside  that  window  was  another  plank,  which 
served  as  our  writing  desk,  where  we  children,  with 
our  goose-quill  pens,  and  our  copy-books,  learned  to 
make  straight  lines,  curves  and  pot-hooks,  and, 
finally,  to  shape  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and 
follow  the  copy  as  best  we  could;  and  it  was  not 
long  before  we  were  writing  such  maxims  and  prov- 
erbs as :  ^'Evil  communications  corrupt  good  man- 
ners"; "Time  and  tide  wait  for  no  man";  "Disap- 
pointment sinks  the  heart  of  man,  but  the  renewal 
of  hope  gives  consolation."  And  how  we  did  lean 
to  it,  trying  to  make  our  letters  as  round  and 
smooth  as  w^ere  those  in  the  copy,  set  us  by  our 
teacher. 

Our  thirty-day  school  came  to  a  close  very  soon, 
and  our  good  teacher  called  in  her  patrons,  on  the 
last  day,  to  see  and  hear  for  themselves  what  had 
been  done  for  their  children.  All  of  us  put  on  our 
best  clothes  that  morning,  for  we  were  to  be  on  ex- 
hibition that  day,  'and  our  mothers  wanted  us  to 
look  nice,  as  well  as  to  do  nicely.  I  need  not  un- 
dertake to  describe  my  feelings  of  that  morning, 
for  I  was  to  stand  on  a  stool  chair  and  make  a 
speech  that  day,  and  my  mother  and  my  father  said 
they  knew  I  would  say  my  speech  all  right;  and,  of 
course,  I  was  already  in  my  estimation  an  orator, 
very  little,  if  any,  below  Demosthenes  or  Cicero. 
That  was  the  biggest  day  of  my  life.  I  have  never 
seen  another  like  it.  I  knew  my  answers  all  right; 
my  penmanship  was  complimented  by  all  the  moth- 
ers and  fathers,  my  copy-book  had  no  splotches  on 


40 


whitaker's  reminiscences. 


starting-  to  School— First  Speech. 

"You  scarce  expect  one  of  my  age, 
To  speak  iu  public,  ou  the  stage." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  41 

it,  and,  so  far  as  the  clay  had  gone,  I  had  stood 
number  one.  But  the  crisis  was  yet  to  come,  when 
we  little  fellows  w^ere  to  mount  the  stool  chair  and 
say  our  speeches.  During  tlie  recess  we  young  ora- 
tors might  have  been  heard  around  the  house,  a  lit- 
tle off  in  the  woods,  going  over  the  speeches  that 
were  to  make  us  famous  if  Avell  said,  but  be  the 
cause  of  our  ruin,  if  we  happened  to  get  out,  and 
go  to  crying.  At  length  the  hour  came,  and  be  it 
said  to  the  honor  of  the  memory  of  Miss  Harriet, 
she  had  done  her  work  well,  and  all  her  little  boys 
acquitted  themselves  with  credit,  and  each  mother 
said,  as  she  hugged  her  son  and  patted  him  on  the 
head,  ^'None  of  the  boys  beat  my  little  boy.''  I 
can't  forget  how  I  was  struck  with  the  importance 
of  the  occasion  and  the  subject,  when  after  my  bow, 
I  began:  ^'You  scarce  expect  one  of  my  age,  to 
speak  in  public,  on  the  stage,"  and  how  I  magnified 
my  importance  when,  after  I  had  said  the  last 
word  and  made  my  bow,  I  was  greeted  with  slap- 
ping of  hands  and  complimentarj^  remarks  from 
all  the  fathers  and  mothers  in  the  room. 

If  there  is  any  highCi.'  position  in  the  world  than 
teaching  I  have  not  discovered  it,  neither  heard  of 
it;  so,  to  my  mind,  those  who  have  our  children  in 
hand  should  be,  if  they  are  not,  conscious  of  the 
great  fact  that  they  are  moulding  characters  and 
giving  directions  to  lives,  and  that  God  will  call 
them  to  account  hereafter  for  how  faithfully  or  un- 
faithfully they  perform  the  responsible  duties  of 
that  high  calling. 

It  was  during  the  time  I  was  going  to  my  first 
school  that  a  great  revival  meeting  was  held  at 
Holland's  church,  eight  miles  south  of  Kaleigh,  by 
Rev.  Daniel  Culbreth,  father  of  Mrs.  W.  B.  Hutch- 
ings  and  Mrs.  W.  W.  Wynne,  of  this  city,  in  which 
meeting  my  father  was  converted.     Our    teacher 


42  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

dismissed  school  one  day,  and,  as  a  mother  hen 
would  lead  her  little  chicks,  she  led  all  we  little 
immortals  to  the  church,  to  see  and  hear;  and,  so 
we  witnessed  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives,  the  ex- 
ercises of  an  old-time  Methodist  revival  in  full 
blast;  and  Kev.  Daniel  Culbreth  stands,  in  my 
memory,  the  first  minister  of  the  gospel  I  ever 
heard.  He  was  an  old-time  Methodist  preacher, 
full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  popular  as  a 
preacher,  and  loved  by  every  one  v/ho  knew  him. 
For  many  years  he  labored  in  and  around  Raleigh, 
and,  among  other  things  he  did,  was  the  moving  of 
the  old  church,  which  stood  where  Christ  church 
now  stands,  down  Edenton  street,  to  where  St. 
Paul's  M.  E.  Z.  church  now  stands.  That  occurred 
away  back  in  the  forties,  when  the  colored  people 
were  served  by  some  of  the  ablest  v\diite  preachers 
which  the  Conference  could  send  to  them.  Father 
Culbreth  lived,  when  I  was  a  boy,  very  near  where 
the  freight  depot  of  the  Southern  Eailv/ay  is,  and 
it  was  my  good  fortune  to  board  at  his  house,  and 
be  under  his  care  when,  as  a  country  lad,  I  came  to 
Raleigh  to  school.  I  shall  ever  believe  that  his 
godly  infiuence  over  me  had  much  to  do  in  keeping 
me  from  falling  into  the  temptations  of  the  city, 
to  which  I,  as  a  country  boy,  was  subjected.  I 
shall  always  revere  his  memory. 

I  spoke  of  going  to  Holland's  church,  and  I  will 
go  back  there  for  a  few  minutes,  and  speak  of  some 
of  the  old-time  people  who  used  to  worship  there. 
As  I  ride  up  I  see  a  great  crowd,  most  of  them 
standing  about  in  groups;  some  sitting  on  a  log 
between  Iavo  oaks;  some  going  to,  some  returning 
from  the  spring.  I  get  nearer  and  I  recognize  old 
Uncle  Sam  Walton,  leaning  his  chin  on  the  head 
of  his  long  staff ;  he  is  the  oldest  man,  and  his  chil- 
dren have  married  and  gone,  save  one  or  two,  and 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  43 

he  looks  as  if  he  will  soon  bid  adieu  to  earth  and 
o'o  to  the  land  of  the  saints,  xind  I  see  Parker 
Eand,  Harrison  Rand,  William  Eand,  N.  G.  Rand, 
Wm.  Whitaker,  James  Rhodes,  Dr.  Jno  H.  Jones, 
John  Walton,  Samuel  Whitaker,  Willis  V/hitaker, 
Jonathan  Smith,  Alfred  Williams,  Simeon  Will- 
iams, Thos.  G.  Whitaker^  William  Turner,  Simon 
Turner,  Wm.  D.  Crowder,  Adam  Banks,  J.  J.  L. 
McCullers,  Samuel  Utley,  Allen  Adams,  and  others 
whose  names  I  have  not  space  to  write,  all  full  of 
life  and  seemingly  happy;  and  all  their  voices 
sound  so  naturally  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  our 
meeting  is  real.  But,  alas!  all  have  gone  beyond 
the  river,  except  W.  D.  Crowder  and  S.  S.  Turner, 
whom  I  saw  in  the  flesh  a  few  weeks  ago  at  a  pro- 
tracted meeting  at  the  old  church.  Those  old  men 
— those  strong  men — who  in  my  boyhood  wielded 
such  an  influence  in  that  community,  and  in  the 
county,  have  all  gone  but  two.  But  their  children 
are  there,  and,  although  in  my  visit  recently,  while 
I  found  not  the  fathers,  I  did  find  sons  and  daugh- 
ters who  are  nobly  and  successfully  filling  the  sta- 
tions their  fathers  once  occupied,  and  I  did  find  the 
old  church,  at  which  I  went  to  Sunday-school  sixty 
years  ago,  still  offering  an  asylum  to  the  sinner  and 
a  home  to  the  child  of  God.  Oh,  these,  old  time 
memories !  how  they  call  up  scenes  and  faces,  and 
make  us  to  live  over  again  the  happiest  periods  of 
life. 


44  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  YII. 

Eon.  Geo.  E.  Badger — John  Bohhitt,  Esq.,  one  of 
the  Best  Teachers  of  His  Day — The  First  IState 
Fair  and  the  ''D.  Q.  I/s: 


}> 


Major  Crenshaw,  of  Wake  Forest,  informs  me 
that  it  was  Mr.  Badger  who  said,  in  1844,  AYhen 
exhibiting  that  cake  sent  from  Fajetteville  to  the 
great  Whig  meeting  here  on  the  occasion  of  Mr. 
Clay's  visit :  ^^The  cake  is  not  large  enough  to  give 
yon  all  a  slice,  but  when  I  eat  it  I  will  think  of 
you  all." 

I  heard  the  remark,  as  stated  in  a  former  article, 
but  did  not  remember  who  made  it.  By  the  way,  I 
would  be  glad  to  be  reminded  by  any  of  the  ''old 
boys"  of  such  incidents  of  the  long  ago,  as  may 
occur  to  them  while  reading  these  sketches.  There 
are  many  things,  worthy  of  a  place  in  history,  said 
and  done  by  those  who  have  gone  on  before  us,  that 
will  be  lost  unless  speedily  written,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  pleasure  the  living  may  derive  from  such  his- 
tory, let  us  make  haste  to  write,  ere  the  incidents 
be  forgotten. 

Speaking  of  Mr.  Badger,  I  make  bold  to  say,  our 
people  have  not  done  him  justice.  If  he  had  hailed 
from  some  Xorthern  State,  instead  of  from  North 
Carolina,  where  we  have  not  yet  learned  to  properly 
appreciate  our  own  great  men,  a  shaft  would,  long 
ago,  have  been  reared  to  his  memory,  and  our  school 
books  would  have  been  filled  Avith  extracts  from 
some  of  his  great  speeches;  but  instead  of  that,  a 
name  once  so  familiar,  not  only  in  North  Carolina, 
but  all  over  the  United  States  as  well,  is  but  little 
known  to  the  children  of  the  present  day. 

George  E.  Badger  Avas  a  native  of  New  Bern, 


I^'CIDEXTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  45 

born  in  1795.  His  father  came  from  Connecticut, 
and  married  a  daugliter  of  Kichard  Cogdell,  who, 
in  1775,  was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Council  of 
Safety  for  the  New  Bern  district.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Yale  College,  and  studied  law  with  the 
Honorable  John  Stanly,  and  entered  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1816  fyom  the  town  of  New  Bern,  serving 
one  term  of  two  years.  He  was  elected  Judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  in  1820,  serving  until  1825, 
when  he  resigned;  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy  under 
General  Harrison  in  1811,  but  resigned  upon  the 
death  of  the  President;  was  elected  United  States 
Senator  in  1846,  and  again  in  1848,  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  took  i)osition,  side  by  side,  with  the  great- 
est men  of  that  period — WelDster,  Clay,  Calhoun, 
Benton  and  others,  whose  names  are  cherished  and 
honored  by  the  people  of  the  States  they  so  ably 
represented.  I  remember  to  have  seen  the  state- 
ment made  by  Chief  Justice  Taney,  to  the  effect 
that,  ^'as  a  statesman  and  orator.  Judge  Badger 
was  the  equal  of  Daniel  Webster,  if  not  his  supe- 
rior.'' When  will  old  North  Carolina  erect  a  shaft 
to  the  memory  of  one  whose  greatness  was  so  ap- 
parent while  living,  and  the  lustre  of  whose  great- 
ness still  illumines  the  horizon,  though  a  third  of 
a  century  has  gone  by  since  his  sun  of  life  went 
down? 

Judge  Badger,  though  a  very  great  man,  was  as 
genial  and  familiar  on  the  streets  as  an  old  farmer, 
and  would  chat  pleasantly  with  any  person  whom 
he  might  meet,  whether  preacher,  doctor,  lawyer, 
merchant  or  mechanic,  and  he  invariably  left  sun- 
shine in  his  wake.  He  was  fond  of  telling  anec- 
dotes, and  no  one  could  tell  one  better  than  he. 
He  used  to  tell  about  eating  Daniel  Webster's  tur- 
key, while  as  Senator  he  Avas  living  in  Washington. 
Mr.  Webster  bought  a  turkey  at  the  market,  but 


46  vn^hitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  delivery  wagon  carried  it  to  Mr.  Badger's  resi- 
dence instead  of  to  Mr.  Webster's,  and  of  course  it 
was  cooked,  as  Mrs.  Badger  supposed  it  was  or- 
dered by  Mr.  Badger.  The  consequence  was,  Mr. 
Webster  had  no  turkey  for  dinner  that  day,  while 
Mr.  Badger  did,  though  he  knew  not  how  it  hap- 
pened. But,  a  day  or  two  after,  Mr.  Webster  was 
telling  some  Senators  how  a  turkey  that  he  had  pur- 
chased in  the  market  failed  to  come  to  his  table, 
but  doubtless  went  to  the  table  of  some  other  Sen- 
ator, and  remarked  that  if,  through  mistake,  some- 
body's turkey  had  been  sent  to  his  house  he  would 
have  sent  it  back  to  the  market,  and  had  the  mis- 
take corrected.  Addressing  Mr.  Badger,  he  asked : 
^^How  would  you  have  done.  Judge?''  Mr.  Badger 
replied :  "If  a  turkey  ever  lights  on  my  table,  I'll 
be  sure  to  eat  him,  as  I  did  yours." 

Mr.  Badger  was  by  no  means  an  early  riser.  He 
generally  came  down  street  between  ten  and  eleven 
in  the  morning,  having  just  finished  his  breakfast. 
His  habit  of  late  sleeping  was  well  known,  and  it 
w^as  no  uncommon  thing  for  some  one  to  remark, 
in  a  jocular  way,  as  he  would  pass  along :  "Judge, 
you  are  out  rather  early  this  morning."  In  reply 
to  a  remark  like  this,  he  told  of  a  trip  he  made  to 
seme  court,  stopping  for  a  night  at  a  country  house. 
Before  retiring,  he  told  the  landlady  he  wished  to 
make  an  early  start  the  next  morning,  and  asked 
her  what  time  she  could  have  breakfast.  "Well, 
Mister,"  she  said,  "I'll  have  it  as  soon  as  I  can.  I 
have  a  sight  to  do  of  a  morning.  By  the  time  I 
make  my  fires,  milk  the  cows,  dress  the  children 
and  get  breakfast  the  sun's  mighty  nigh  up."  "For 
mercy  sake,  madam,"  said  he,  "don't  call  me  up 
for  breakfast;  early  dinner  will  be  soon  enough  for 
me."  "And  so,"  said  Mr.  Badger,  while  the  crowd 
laughed,  "I  got  my  breakfast  as  usual,  about  eleven 
o'clock,  and  went  on  my  way  rejoicing." 


INCIDENTS    AND   ANECDOTES.  47 

After  Mr.  Badger  left  the  Senate  he  was  made  a 
magistrate,  and  for  several  years  he,  with  two  other 
magistrates  (Thomas  G.  Whitaker,  my  father,  be- 
ing one  of  them),  presided  over  the  County  Court 
of  Wake,  in  which  capacity  he  did  invaluable  ser- 
vice to  the  county,  and  made  himself  very  popular 
with  the  lawyers,  the  officers  of  the  court  and  the 
people  generally.  Mr.  Badger  was  a  member  of 
the  convention  which  passed  the  ordinance  of  se- 
cession in  1861,  and  he  and  Judge  Ruffln  were  very 
enthusiastic  when,  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  North 
Carolina,  for  the  second  time,  declared  her  inde- 
pendence. I  was  not  in  Kaleigh  that  day,  but  heard 
the  booming  of  the  cannon  at  about  noon,  an- 
nouncing the  fact  that  the  "Old  North  State''  had 
just  stepped  out  of  the  Union,  and  had  taken  refuge 
in  the  "Confederate  States  of  America."  I  was 
soon  summoned  to  dinner,  and  I  remember  so  well 
a  remark  my  father  made  at  the  table  in  reply  to 
one  I  had  made,  that  "we  ate  breakfast  in  the 
United  States,  but  were  dining  in  the  Confederate 
States."  "I  fear,"  said  he,  "we  will  not  be  as  well 
off  when  we  get  back  into  the  United  States  as 
when  we  left."  He  was  not  a  Union  man;  on  the 
contrary,  he  was  a  secessionist;  but,  like  all  intelli- 
gent, thoughtful  men,  he  realized  that  the  infant 
republic  had  a  terrible  struggle  to  pass  through, 
and  the  odds  were  all  against  it.  But,  let  us  go 
back  to  ante-bellum  days,  before  a  speck  of  Avar 
cloud  had  shown  itself  in  the  political  sky. 

One  of  the  best  teachers  I  ever  went  to  was  John 
Bobbitt,  Esq.,  who  came  to  this  city  from  Louis- 
burg  in  the  forties,  and  opened  a  school  on  Har- 
gett  street,  beyond  the  city  cemetery,  near  the  old 
Fair  Grounds.  He  had  taught  many  years  in 
Louisburg,  before  coming  to  Raleigh,  and  his  fame 
as  a  teacher  of  the  languages  was  State  wide;  but 


48  whitaker's 

as  a  manager  of  a  school  he  was  a  failure.  He  did 
not  know  any  of  his  boys,  and  rarely  ever  knew 
what  was  going  on  in  the  school  room.  ^  Many  times 
I  have  seen  every  boy  leave  the  building,  except  the 
boy  or  boys  reciting;  for  he  was  so  intent  on  his 
work  he  seemed  to  be  oblivions  to  all  surroundings. 
He  had  a  way  of  leaning  back  against  the  wall, 
with  his  feet  upon  the  rounds  of  his  chair  and  clos- 
ing his  eyes,  while  the  class  or  the  boy  (for  he 
generally  took  one  boy  at  a  time)  was  on  recitation ; 
and  so  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  all  who  were  not 
reciting  to  get  out  and  stay  out  so  long  as  that  reci- 
tation lasted.  He  was  an  inveterate  chewer  of  to- 
bacco and  expectorated  freely.  Sometimes,  when 
very  much  interested,  he  would  take  off  his  old  bell 
crown  hat,  and  set  it  down  on  the  hearth  beside 
his  chair,  and  then  it  was  fun  to  us  boys  to  see  him 
chew  his  tobacco  and  spit  in  his  hat,  forgetting  that 
it  was  down  by  his  side.  But  for  all  that,  he  knew 
all  the  books  b^'  heart  and  would  make  a  fellow 
who  had  not  prepared  himself  for  recitation  see 
sights  before  he  let  up  on  him.  He  never  knew  me  by 
name.  When  my  father  went  to  pay  my  tuition  he 
said  he  didn't  know  any  such  boy,  but  he  supposed 
Harriet  (his  wife)  did;  and  so  my  father  settled 
the  matter  with  her.  She  kept  the  account  all 
right.  As  instructor  he  had  no  superior,  but  as  he 
used  to  say,  he  "didn't  fool  away  his  time  on  boys 
who  did  not  try  to  learn." 

I  attended  the  first  State  Fair  held  at  Kaleigh, 
and,  as  I  remember  it  now,  it  was  the  best  fair  we 
have  ever  had.  True,  it  was  on  a  very  small  scale, 
but  as  far  as  it  went,  it  was  complete,  for  the 
pumpkins,  potatoes,  turnips,  beets,  squash  and  cab- 
bages greAv  as  large  then  as  now,  and  the  corn, 
w^heat,  rye  and  oats  looked  just  as  they  do  now, 
and  the  bed  quilts  and  other  feminine  exhibits  were 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  49 

as  pretty  as  the}^  are  now,  and  I  am  sure  the  girls 
of  that  day  have  not  yet  been,  nor  can  ever  be,  sur- 
passed at  any  State  Fair.  So,  as  I  remember  it, 
the  first  fair  Raleigh  ever  had  was  the  best  one, 
small  as  it  was,  in  comparison  with  those  of  mod- 
ern times.  Midways  had  not  then  introduced  the 
fakirs,  the  thimble  riggers,  the  ^^Orientals"  and  the 
"hoochee  coochees'';  but  we  had  amusements  that 
pleased  and  entertained,  and  nobody  was  alarmed 
about  i3ickpockets,  for  before  the  war  that  race  of 
light-fingered  gentry,  Avhich  seems  to  have  grown 
so  numerous,  had  not  located  in  this  country. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  interesting  to  the 
boys  to  tell  them  about  the  ^'D.  Q.  I.'s,"  an  organi- 
zation Raleigh  had  away  back  in  the  fifties.  But, 
if  the  boys  have  not  read  that  inimitable  book 
called  ''Don  Quixote,"  written  by  Cervantes,  I  am 
afraid  they  will  not  understand  and  appreciate  this 
incident.  But  supposing  that  they  have  read  Don 
Quixote,  and  are  familiar  with  its  characters,  I  as- 
sume they  will  know  what  I  mean  by  a  ''Don 
Quixote  xlssociation" — that  it  was  for  the  purpose 
of  giving  the  public  a  practical  demonstration  of 
Don  Quixote's  vagaries  and  hallucinations,  when, 
as  knight  errant,  he  went  forth  to  right  the  wrongs 
and  alleviate  the  distresses  and  sorrows  of  the 
world.  The  "D.  Q.  I.'s''— that  is,  the  "Don  Quix- 
ote Invincibles'' — made  their  first  appearance  on 
the  streets  of  Raleigh  during  one  of  the  fairs  in  the 
fifties.  They  were  all  dressed  as  knights,  wearing 
masks,  helmets  and  shields,  and  carrying  spears  or 
swords,  and  were  mounted  on  the  poorest  horses, 
mules  and  no-horned  oxen  that  could  be  found.  Of 
course,  Don  Quixote  was  at  the  head  of  the  column, 
riding  his  celebrated  steed  "Rosinante."  and  close 
behind  him,  came  the  ever  faithful  "Sancho  Panza," 
riding  that  same  old  mule ;  while  at  least  a  hundred 


50  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

true  and  lojal  knights,  mounted  as  I  have  above 
stated,  made  a  procession  that  would  beggar  de- 
scription. About  midway  the  column  was  a  wagon 
drawn  by  a  mule  and  a  steer,  in  which  sat  Colonel 
Buck  Tucker,  who,  dressed  as  a  woman,  with  a 
bonnet  on  his  head  big  enough  for  a  buggy  top,  was 
blushingiy  representing  the  famou&i  "Dulcinea  Del 
Toboso'^ — the  queen  of  love  and  beauty — the  inspi- 
ration that  gave  valor  and  daring  to  the  immortal 
Don. 

At  the  fair  ground,  after  going  through  a  sham 
battle,  in  which  many  daring  assaults  were  made 
upon  imaginary  and  invisible  enemies,  a  tourna- 
ment was  announced,  and  the  fun  of  the  day  began 
in  earnest,  as  knights  on  horses,  knights  on  mules, 
and  knights  on  yearlings,  contended  for  the  ring. 
I  don't  remember  who  was  the  successful  knight, 
but  I  do  remember  how  gracefully  he  knelt  at  the 
shrine  of  "Dulcinea  Del  Toboso"  and  received  the 
victor's  wreath,  made  of  collard  and  mullen  leaves, 
and  how  he  kissed  the  hand  of  the  queen  of  love 
and  beauty,  who  graciously  bestovred  on  him  such 
an  honor.  Yes,  we  had  good  times  at  the  fairs  of 
long  ago,  and  got  along  very  well  v/ithout  any  mid- 
ways, thimble-riggers  or  pickpockets.  But  in  these 
days,  when  mothers,  in  progressive  euchre,  whist 
and  other  games,  are  learning  their  children  to 
gamble;  and  when  serving  refreshments  to  guests 
are  showing  their  children  how  to  sip  punch  and 
guzzle  champagne;  and  when  in  church  festivals 
they  introduce  fish-ponds,  grab  bags,  dice  throwing 
and  other  games  of  chance,  and  are  thereby  filling 
the  minds  of  their  children  with  the  idea  of  getting 
something  for  nothing;  it  has  become  necessary,  I 
suppose,  in  order  to  popularize  our  State  Fair,  to 
make  it  up  as  nearly  as  possible  after  the  model 
which  modern  society  has  moulded.  I  am  not  an 
advocate  of  that  ^'goody-goody"  creed  that  would 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  51 

banish  amusements  from  the  home,  or  curtail  the 
enjoyments  of  the  young  people  in  society ;  but,  so 
long  as  we  reverence  the  Bible,  as  the  divinely  in- 
spired Word  of  God,  it  becomes  parents  as  well  as 
those  who  make  and  execute  our  laws,  to  see  to  it 
that  our  children  are  not  needlessly  exposed  to 
temptations  which  are  so  well  calculated  to  lead 
them,  in  after  life,  into  sins  that  may  ruin  them  for 
time  and  eternity. 


OHAPTEK    VIII. 

Raleigh  Christian  Advocate — Transfer  That  Made 
^ome  Methodists  Mad,  in  Wilmington — Br.  Hef- 
liUy  the  First  North  Carolina  Preacher  There. 

The  "Raleigh  Christian  Advocate,''  of  which  that 
most  excellent  paper  of  the  same  name,  issued  by 
Dr.  T.  N.  Ivey,  is  the  granddaughter,  was  first  pub- 
lished in  this  city,  upon  the  press  of  the  "Spirit  of 
the  Age,"  in  January,  1856,  the  Rev.  R.  T.  Heflin, 
D.  D.,  being  its  editor.  Dr.  Heflin  was  stationed  at 
Edenton  Street  Church,  this  city,  during  the  years 
1849  and  1850.  Prom  Raleigh  he  was  sent  to  Front 
Street  Church,  Wilmington,  remaining  there  two 
years — 1851  and  1852.  Wilmington,  until  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  in  1850,  transferred  that  city  as 
well  as  all  the  territory  south  of  the  Cape  Fear 
river,  had  belonged  to  the  South  Carolina  Confer- 
ence, and  been  supplied  with  South  Carolina 
preachers;  but  in  1851  the  North  Carolina  Con- 
ference supplied  Wilmington  and  the  other  trans- 
ferred territory  with  preachers,  and  Rev.  R.  T. 
Heflin  was  the  flrst  North  Carolina  preacher  sent 
to  Wilmington.  His  reception  was  anything  but 
cordial ;  in  fact,  many  of  the  members  of  the  church 


52  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

were  so  incensed  because  of  the  transfer,  they  did 
not  treat  their  neAv  preacher  with  common  civility. 
They  did  not  hesitate  to  let  him  see  and  feel  their 
dislike  of  him  on  every  occasion.  Before  he  arrived 
the  parsonage  had  been  almost  entirely  stripped  of 
its  furniture,  so  that  for  a  while  he  and  his  family 
had  to  put  up  with  many  inconveniences  as  well 
as  indignities.  I  happened  to  be  in  that  city  soon 
after  Dr.  Heflin  entered  upon  his  first  year's  labors, 
and  was  invited  to  dine  with  him.  At  the  dinner 
I  noticed  that  he  used  his  pocket  knife,  and  was 
told  that  the  ladies  of  the  church  had  taken  al- 
most everything  out,  even  the  knives  and  forks, 
except  such  things  as  were  old  and  worn,  leaving 
only  two  knives  and  forks,  two  cups  and  saucers, 
and  such  plates  and  dishes  as  I  saw  on  the  table, 
most  of  which  were  broken.  But  he  was  jolly,  and 
remarked  that  it  would  be  all  right  before  the  year 
ended,  and  that  if  I  would  come  again  later  on  he 
would  insure  that  there  would  be  plenty  of  knives 
and  forks  and  everything  else.  It  took  only  a  few 
weeks  for  him  to  show  the  Wilmington  Methodists 
that  North  Carolina  had  one  preacher,  at  least,  who 
was  the  equal  of  those  sent  them  from  the  South 
Carolina  Conference,  and  before  the  first  year  had 
ended,  some  of  them  would  not  have  given  Hefiin 
for  any  of  the  preachers  they  used  to  have. 

In  1856,  as  I  have  already  stated,  he  began  to 
edit  the  Kaleigh  Christian  Advocate,  and  contin- 
ued to  do  so  until  1862,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  W.  E.  Pell. 

Dr.  Heflin  was  a  vigorous  writer  and  made  a 
good  paper,  and  this  writer,  having  become  the  pub- 
lisher of  the  Advocate  in  1858,  had  the  best  of  op- 
portunities of  arriving  at  a  proper  estimate  of  his 
fine  abilities.  Added  to  the  fact,  that  he  was  a 
good  editor  and  an  eloquent  preacher,  he  was  a 
ready  and  strong  debater,  as  was  manifested  in  a 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


53 


Rev.  WILLIAM  E.  PELL,  D.D.. 
Editor  of  the  "Raleigh  Sentinel. 


54  WHITAKER'S   REMIXISCENOESj 

three  or  four  days'  debate  which  took  place  at 
Banks'  Chapel,  in  Granville  County,  between  him 
and  Rev.  George  W.  Purefoy,  upon  the  subject  of 
baptism,  some  time  in  the  fifties.  Hundreds  of 
people  went,  day  after  day,  to  hear  the  debate,  and 
the  verdict  was  that  Heflin  did  not  come  out  of  the 
fight  second  best.  Dr.  Heflin  was  a  native  of  Gran- 
ville County,  I  think,  but  his  home,  at  the  time  he 
edited  the  Advocate,  was  in  Franklin  County, 
about  five  miles  west  of  Franklinton.  During  the 
war  he  moved  to  Texas  and  became  the  president 
of  a  female  college,  I  have  heard. 

Rev.  W.  E.  Pell  continued  to  edit  the  Advocate 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  when  its  publication  was 
susi)ended,  and  he  began  the  publication  of  the 
Sentinel,  a  paper  which  boldly  and  fearlessly  de- 
fended the  Southern  people,  in  those  days  of  re- 
construction, when  the  country  was  filled  with  car- 
pet baggers,  and  the  scalawag  element,  which  had 
filled  the  swamps  during  the  war,  as  deserters, 
was  holding  high  carnival.  As  a  political  editor, 
Dr.  Pell  wielded  a  vigorous  pen,  and  rascals  soon 
began  to  fear  him;  for  he  v/as  merciless  in  his 
denunciations  of  villainy,  and  bold  in  defense  of 
the  rights  of  an  oppressed  people,  who  were  being 
robbed  of  what  the  war  had  left  them.  During  the 
Legislature  of  18G8,  I  kept  a  boarding  house,  and 
around  my  table  I  could  hear  from  boarders,  some 
of  whom  had  been  deserters  or  ^^Union  men,"  how 
deep-seated  was  the  hatred  they  bore  against  Dr. 
Pell;  and  I  could  see  from  their  appearances  they 
felt  their  unfitness  and  unworthiness  for  the  posi- 
tions they  held,  and  that  every  word  uttered  by  the 
Sentinel  cut  like  a  two-edged  sword,  taking  off  the 
hide  of  rascality  and  at  the  same  time  probing  the 
meanness  and  rottenness  of  that  combination, 
which  had  been  formed  of  the  worst  elements  which 
the  demoralized  condition  of  the  country  afforded. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  55 

In  the  3^ear  1867,  Kev.  W.  H.  Cuninggim,  as  the 
agent  of  the  Conference,  began  the  publication  of 
^"The  Episcopal  Methodist,''  of  which  the  writer 
was  the  business  manager,  and  Dr.  H.  T.  Hudson, 
the  pastor  of  Edenton  Street  M.  E.  Church,  the 
editor.  The  unsettled  condition  of  the  country  and 
the  lack  of  mail  facilities,  added  to  the  losses  sus- 
tained by  fire,  so  crippled  the  enterprise  as  to 
threaten  a  suspension  of  the  paper;  but  Dr.  Hud- 
son, the  editor,  bought  the  material  and  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Methodist  was  continued  by  the 
writer  until  the  Conference  held  at  Statesville  in 
the  fall  of  1868,  when  Kev.  'J.  B.  Bobbitt  pur- 
chased it  and  afterward  changed  its  name  to  the 
Ealeigh  Christian  Advocate.  In  the  course  of 
time  our  esteemed  fellow  citizen,  R.  T.  Gray,  Esq., 
bought  an  interest  in  and  became  associate  editor 
of  the  Advocate,  but  afterwards  sold  his  interest 
therein  that  he  might  give  his  whole  time  to  his 
law  practice. 

Leaving  the  Advocate  history  right  here,  I  go 
back  to  Wilmington  to  explain  what  may  seem 
strange  to  the  reader  in  the  conduct  of  the  Metho- 
dists of  that  city  toward  Dr.  Heflin.  It  must  be 
understood,  in  the  first  place,  that  when  the  North 
Carolina  Conference  was  formed,  the  Virginia  Con- 
ference retained  all  that  North  Carolina  territory 
north  of  the  Roanoke  river ;  the  Holston  conference 
reached  over  all  the  western  counties  to  the  top  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  and  the  South  Carolina  Conference 
occupied  all  the  territory  south  of  the  Cape  Fear 
river,  as  well  as  all  the  country  lying  west  of  the 
Pee  Dee  and  the  Yadkin.  The  first  transfer  which 
the  General  Conference  made  of  that  cut-off  terri- 
tory was  that  of  1850,  when  Wilmington  and  the 
whole  Cape  Fear  country  were  given  to  the  North 
Carolina  Conference.  Most  of  the  people  in  the 
territorv  favored  the  transfer,  but  others  were  bit- 


56  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

terly  opposed  to  it,  many  of  wliicli  class  lived  in 
Wilmingtou,  and  so  bitter  was  their  opposition 
that  they  said  and  did  a  great  many  unbecoming 
things.  The  men  thought  the  Xorth  Carolina 
preachers  were  not  so  well  educated,  and  could  not 
preach  so  well  as  preachers  who  had  been  reared 
in  Columbia  or  Charleston,  while  the  women  just 
kncAy  that  the  North  Carolina  preachers  were  not 
and  could  not  be  half  so  nice  and  good  looking  as 
the  South  Carolina  preachers,  and  of  these  two 
classes  arose  the  opposition,  which  slapped  Dr. 
Heflin  in  the  face  with  a  wet  rag,  when  he  set  foot 
on  Wilmington  soil'  as  the  preacher  in  charge  of 
Front  Street  Church. 

Dr.  Closs  had  heard  what  the  yv^omen  said  of  the 
good  looks  of  the  South  Carolina  preachers,  as 
compared  with  the  North  Carolina  preachers,  and 
remarked :  "The  reason  the  good  women  think  the 
South  Carolina  preachers  are  better  looking  than 
we,  is  because  they  haye  not  seen  us'^ — emphasizing 
the  "us.''  The  humor  of  which  remark  was  in  the 
fact,  that  while  the  Doctor  Ayas  a  great  and  good 
man,  he  never  was  considered  a  beauty;  and  Avas 
ahyays  less  so  when  he  tried  to  look  so.  If  the 
women  could  have  seen  him  when  he  said  "they 
have  not  seen  us,"  their  opposition  to  the  transfer 
might  have  been  intensified.  But  they  did  not,  as 
good  luck  would  have  it,  and  so  the  transfer  was 
made.  But  they  did  see  him  after  aw^hile  and  liked 
him,  too,  and  became  satisfied  that  the  transfer  was 
the  right  thing. 

What  a  history  Methodism  has  made  in  Wilming- 
ton !  I  have  often  thought  that  instead  of  charging 
the  people  with  disloyalty,  because  they  acted  a 
little  rudely  when  their  long-tried  pastors  were 
about  to  be  taken  from  them,  their  conduct  only 
showed  how  deep-seated  were  their  love  and  rever- 
ence for  those  who  had  been  their  spiritual  guides, 


I^X"IDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  57 

and  how  sacred  to  them  were  the  memories  of  the 
early  struggles  of  Methodism  in  that  town,  through 
which  those  preachers  had  led  them ;  and,  after  all, 
their  conduct  was  commendable,  and  not  censur- 
able, as  it  might  have  seemed  in  that  day. 

As  I  have  referred  to  the  fact  that  I  was  a  pub- 
lisher of  other  papers,  it  is  material  to  a  proper 
understanding  of  the  situation  to  say  that  I  was 
the  proprietor  and  the  editor  of  the  "Democratic 
Press''  from  1858  until,  in  1860,  I  sold  it  to  John 
Spelman,  Esq.,  who  changed  its  name  to  the  State 
Journal,  and  published  it  as  the  ofacial  organ  of 
Governor  Ellis,  and  of  the  secession  wing  of  the 
Democratic  party,  after  Governor  Ellis'  death,  un- 
til 1862,  when  the  office  was  demolished  by  a  mob. 
And  thereby  hangs  a  tale,  which  may  be  new  to 
some  of  your  younger  readers.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  Raleigh  Standard,  of  which  the  late 
Governor  Holden  was  the  editor,  was  looked  upon 
by  many  during  the  war  as  being  "an  Union" 
paper ;  that  is,  opposed  to  the  fight  which  the  South 
was  making  for  its  independence,  and  therefore  as 
being  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the  South.  So 
intense  was  the  feeling  against  the  paper  that  a 
Georgia  brigade  Avhen  passing  through  Raleigh  on 
its  way  to  the  front,  went  to  the  Standard  office 
and  overturned  the  cases  and  pied  all  the  type. 
By  way  of  retaliation  some  of  Mr.  Holden's  friends 
a  few  days  after,  went  to  the  State  Journal  office, 
and  not'^only  threw  all  the  type  into  "pi,"  but, 
with  sledge  hammers,  broke  the  presses  to  pieces, 
completely  demolishing  the  office,  so  that  no  effort 
was  made  to  publish  the  paper  again;  but  a  joint 
stock  company  was  organized,  of  which  Governor 
Bragg  was  'the  president,  and  a  new  paper,  the 
"Dailv  Confederate,"  was  established.  Of  that 
paper'^Col.  Duncan  K.  McRae  was  editor-in-chief; 
A.  M.  Gorman  business  manager,  and  this  writer 


58  whitaker's  reminiscences 


proof  reader  and  mailing  clerk^  at  a  salary  of  six 
thousand,  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars  a  year 
Confederate  money,  equal  at  that  time  to  about 
sixty-two  dollars  and  forty  cents  in  gold;  but  it 
would  buy  lots  of  bread  and  meat,  and  that  was 
the  main  thing. 

CHAPTER   IX. 

Eow  I  Felt  My  Importance  as  an  Editor — My 
Earliest  Recollections  of  Railroads — The  Old 
Baptist  Church — Visit  to  Washington  in  Time 
of  the  Breah-up. 

As  I  told  the  reader  in  a  former  sketch,  I  bought 
an  interest  in  the  ^'Live  Giraffe,"  a  newspaper  de- 
voted to  the  best  interests  of  humanity,  generally, 
in  the  year  1853,  but  I  left  untold  many  things  of 
that  period  which  might  interest,  if  properly  nar- 
rated. I  said  the  ^^Giraffe"  was  devoted  to  the  best 
interests  of  humanity  ''generally,''  and  it  was;  for 
it  was  a  religious  paper,  a  temperance  paper,  an 
agricultural  paper,  a  mechanical  paper,  a  political 
paper,  and,  above  all,  a  humorous  paper.  From  the 
motto  which  stood  at  its  head,  the  reader  can  very 
well  imagine  the  scope  of  the  animal's  pasturage. 
Here  it  is : 

"We  care  not  for  boundaries,  mountains  nor  seas, 
Creation's  our  forest,  we  roam  where  we  please." 

That  is  about  the  case,  in  these  sketches;  we  roam 
where  we  please,  and,  instead  of  grazing  a  field  dry, 
we  prefer  to  go  from  pasture  to  pasture,  and  nip 
the  finer  bunches,  and  let  the  younger  grass  grow 
for  future  grazings.  Now,  be  it  known  to  the 
reader,  that  I  was  an  obscure  country  lad  before  I 
became  an  editor;  but,  no  sooner  had  I  mounted 
the  tripod,  than  I  began  to  know  and  become 
known,  and  Avhen  I  was  favored  vrith  my  first  pass 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  59 

on  the  railroad,  and  started  off  to  a  neighboring 
town  on  ^^editorial  business/'  ni}^  importance  had 
assumed  the  dimensions  of  the  meadow  frog,  in 
^sop's  Fables,  when  he  thought  he  was  as  large 
as  the  ox. 

Speaking  of  railroads  reminds  me  to  say,  that 
my  first  impressions  of  them  were  about  as  crude 
ass  were  some  of  the  first  roads  built;  but,  crude  as 
they  were,  and  as  much  unlike  the  roads  we  now 
have,  laid  with  heavy  steel  rails,  they  were  rail- 
roads; and  railroads  alw^ays  w^ere,  and  always  will 
be,  big  things  to  a  boy  raised  in  the  country.  My 
father  went  to  Petersburg,  Va.,  when  I  w-as  a  small 
boy,  to  buy  goods  for  a  country  store,  and  he  an- 
nounced, when  he  returned,  that  he  had  not  only 
seen  a  railroad,  but  had  ridden  on  one;  that  the 
w^heels  ran  on  iron  rails;  the  cars  w^ere  propelled 
by  a  thing  they  called  an  engine;  that  the  train, 
engine  and  two  or  three  cars,  ran  at  the  rate  of  ten 
to  fifteen  miles  an  hour,  and  that  said  train  could 
carry  fifty  passengers.  I  looked  at  him  with  amaze- 
ment, and  wondered  how  I  would  feel  if  I  had  seen 
ai  much  as  he  had,  and  knew  as  much  as  he  knew. 
It  W'as  a  long  time  after  that  before  I  ever  saw^  a 
railroad;  but  it  came  at  last — the  old  Ealeigh  and 
Gaston — and  for  over  half  a  century  the  old  w^agons 
that  did  the  hauling,  between  Kaleigh  and  Fayette- 
ville,  and  betwee^  Kaleigh  and  Petersburg,  Va., 
have  gone  into  ^^innocuous  desuetude,''  as  Grover 
Cleveland  w^ould  say,  and  the  iron  horse  has  been 
doing  the  pulling. 

Of  course  it  is  known  that  the  Raleigh  and  Gas- 
ton railroad  w^as  first  laid  wdth  strap-iron,  on 
wooden  stringers,  and  that,  in  a  few  years,  it  was 
like  taking  his  life  into  his  own  hands,  w^hen  a 
man  got  aboard  a  train ;  for,  as  the  w^ooden  string- 
ers began  to  rot  and  wear,  the  strap-iron  w^as  in- 
clined to  "snake  up"  at  the  ends;  and,  not  unfre- 


60  WHITAKER-S    REMINISCENCES, 

queutly,  a  ^'snake  head/-  as  .it  was  called,  would 
run  through  the  bottom  of  the  car  and  tear  things 
up.  The  first  conductors  I  remember  on  that  road 
were  Captains  Riggan  and  Horton.  The  latter, 
Capt.  Jeptha  Horton,  after  he  quit  running  as  con- 
ductor, was  made  yardmaster  at  the  depot,  and  one 
day,  as  a  freight  train  was  pulling  from  under  a 
shed,  the  top  of  a  car  pulled  the  end  of  the  shed 
upon,  and  killed  him.  John  Horton,  his  son,  took 
his  place  and  filled  it  satisfactorily,  so  long  as  the 
management  of  the  road  was  in  the  hands  of  home 
men;  but,  after  strangers  got  control  of  the  road, 
most,  if  not  all,  of  those  who  once  ran  the  shops, 
as  well  as  the  engines,  and  many  of  the  operatives 
in  other  lines,  had  to  give  place  to  favorites,  which 
other  officers  and  managers  brought  in,  until  it  has 
come  to  pass  that  most  of  the  positions  that  were 
once  filled  with  natives,  are  now  filled  with 
strangers. 

At  one  time  the  old  road  was  in  a  pretty  bad  fix, 
and  there  was  but  little  regularity  in  the  schedules ; 
indeed,  it  was  by  no  means  certain  that  a  train, 
v^hen  it  started,  would  reach  Gaston  that  day ;  for, 
in  many  places,  there  was  no  iron  on  the  track,  but 
the  wheels  had  to  run  on  the  wood;  and,  some- 
times, even  the  wood  was  so  badly  worn  that  the 
engineer  had  to  go  in  a  snail's  pace  over  it.  On 
one  occasion,  an  excursion  was  leaving  the  depot 
for  Wake  Forest,  to  attend  a  commencement. 
James  T.  Marriott,  Esq.,  the  then  clerk  of  the 
court,  came  down  toward  the  train  as  it  was  mov- 
ing off.  He  was  left;  but  he  went  back  up  town, 
got  his  horse  and  buggy  and  went  out  to  Wake 
Forest,  on  the  country  road.  When  our  train 
reached  the  college  we  found  Mr.  Marriott  seated 
under  an  oak  conversing  with  some  gentlemen,  and 
he  said,  as  our  crowd  went  up,  he  had  been  there 
some  time.     I  guess  he  had,  as  I  remember  it  took 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  61 

our  engine  about  three  hours  to  make  the  run. 
Wesley  Hollister  was,  I  believe,  the  first  president 
of  that  road;  but  I  think  that  Major  W.  W.  Vass, 
the  life  long  treasurer,  had  the  management  of  it 
during  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  time  when  it  was  in 
such  bad  condition,  and  it  was  said  that  he  man- 
aged to  make  it  pay  a  dividend. 

"Some  of  the  school  children  may  not  know  that 
on  Moore  Square,  not    far  from  Hargett    street, 
about  southwest  from  the  Tabernacle  church,  used 
to  stand  what  was  known,  in  my  boyhood  days,  as 
^'the  old  Baptist  church.''     It  way  built  in  1812, 
as  I  have  heard,  and  occupied    by  the    Baptists 
until  that  denomination  built  and  moved  up  near 
the    Capitol.     The    Christian    denomination    was 
worshipping  in  that  old  church  when  I  first  remem- 
ber, and  Rev.  Henry  B.  Hayes,  who,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,   was   at   the   same  time  publishing   the 
'^Christian     Sun,''    was    the    preacher,   sometimes 
aided  by  old  Dr.  Hinton,  a  minister  of  that  denomi- 
nation, who  owned  and  lived  in  a  hous'3  on  Fayette- 
ville  street,  kept  now  as  a  boarding-house.     That 
old  Baptist  church  was  frequently  used  for  politi- 
cal meetings,  and  many  a  big  speech  was  made 
therein.     In  the  gubernatorial  campaign  between 
David  S.  Reid  and  John  Kerr,  I  heard  the  discus- 
sion there,  and  remember  whi.t  a  fine  looking  man 
Judge  Kerr  was  and  how  his  fine  oratory  eclipsed 
the  plain  matter  of  fact  speech  made  by  Governor 
Reid.     I  v/as  a  Democrat,  and  Reid  v/as  my  man, 
but,  boy  as  I  was,  I  could  not  help  feeling  that 
Judge  Kerr  was  more  than  a  match  for  him.     But 
he  beat  Kerr,  as  he  had  before  beaten  Governor 
Manlv,  and  from  the  gubernatorial  chair  he  went 
to  the  United  States  Senate,  his  colleague  being 
Hon.  Asa  Bigjgs,  of  Martin.    The  Whigs  had  a  good 
deal  to  say  about  little  Davy's  "sloshing  around" 
in  the  seat  formerly  occupied  by  Judge  Badger, 


62.  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

and  quite  as  much  to  say  about  how  uneasily  Judge 
Biggs  fitted  the  seat  which  Judge  Manguin  had 
occupied  so  long;  but  we  Democrats  thought  they 
were  very  good  men,  and  the  mantles  that  had 
fallen  on  them  fitted  very  well;  so  everything 
quieted  doTsn  after  a  little,  and  Senators  Reid  and 
Biggs  served  faithfully  and  well. 

Gov.  Thomas  Bragg  and  Hon.  Thos.  L.  Clingman 
were  in  the  Senate  when  secession  came  on.  I  will 
stop  here  to  tell  my  readers  a  little  story.  It  is 
this:  When  the  Democratic  National  Convention 
met  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  in  1860,  to  nominate  a 
man  for  I*resident,  it  remained  there  ten  days, 
balloting  es^ery  day,  yet  failed  to  make  a  nomina- 
tion, the  reason  of  which  was  there  were  two  fac- 
tions in  the  party — a  northern  faction  that  favored 
Judge  Douglas,  and  a  southern  faction  which  did 
not  like  the  position  Judge  Douglas  occupied  with 
regard  to  vrhat  was  called  ^'Squatter  Sovereignty," 
and  some  other  questions.  At  that  time,  it  must 
be  remembered,  James  Buchanan  w^as  President, 
and  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky,  Vice-pres- 
ident. I  say  the  convention  at  Charleston  failed  to 
make  a  nomination,  and  it  adjourned  to  meet  in 
Baltimore  a  few  weeks  later.  There  the  two  ele- 
ments failed  as  at  Charleston  to  harmonize,  and 
the  Douglas  wing  withdrew  from  the  convention, 
and  Douglas  was  nominated  by  it,  while  the  regu- 
lar convention  nominated  John  C.  Breckenridge, 
then  the  Vice-president,  for  President,  and  Gen. 
Joe  Lane,  Senator  from  Oregon,  for  Vice-president. 
There  v/ere  four  presidential  tickets  that  year,  to- 
wit:  Breckenridge  and  Lane,  the  Southern  Demo- 
cratic ticket;  Douglas  and  Johnson,  the  Northern 
Democratic  ticket;  Bell  and  Everett,  the  Southern 
Whig  ticket,  and  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  the  Black 
Republican  ticket,  as  it  was  called  here  in  the 
South.     Of  course,  it  is  but  too  well  known  that 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  63 

the  Lincoln  ticket  was  elected,  but  Breckenridge 
and  Lane  carried  North  Carolina  and  mo'st  of  the 
Southern  States.  When  the  Electoral  College  met 
and  cast  the  vote  of  the  State  for  Breckenridge 
and  Lane,  I  was  chosen  messenger  by  the  college 
to  take  the  package  containing  the  result  of  the  rote 
to  Washington,  which  I  did.  Arriving  there,  I 
found  the  city  in  a  whirl  of  excitement.  South 
Carolina  had  already  seceded,  and  the  sentiment, 
as  I  could  gather  it,  was  that  South  Carolina  had 
done  right,  and  that  secession  was  the  only  redress 
for  the  South.  Cockades  were  as  abundant  as  May 
roses,  and  it  really  looked  as  if  the  hoops  were  off 
and  the  whole  thing  was  about  to  tumble  to  pieces ; 
that  a  new  government  was  an  inevitable  result, 
and  from  the  way  I  heard  them  talk  in  the  lobbies, 
there  would  not  l3e  much  left  of  the  oM  government 
when  secession  had  done  its  seceding. 

Senators  Bragg  and  Clingman  paid  me  very 
courteous  attention,  and  opened  the  way  to  me  for 
a  most  enjoyable  time  while  I  sojourned  there.  By 
them  I  was  conducted  into  the  presence  of  the 
Vice-president,  to  whom  I  delivered  my  package. 
He  received  me  graciously,  complimented  the  gal- 
lant Democracy  of  the  "Old  North  State,"  and 
asked  me  to  bear  back  to  the  Legislature,  then  in 
session,  his  heartfelt  gratitude  for  the  high  compli- 
ment the  State  had  conferred  upon  him.  Others 
then  coming  in,  our  conference  ended  with  a  hand- 
shake. I  Vy'ent  to  the  Senate  the  next  day  and  lis- 
tened for  two  hours  to  a  most  impassioned  speech 
by  Senator  Jefferson  Davis,  the  last  one  he  ever 
made  in  that  body.  Gen.  Joe  Lane,  the  Vice-presi- 
dential candidate,  liavin,^-  visited  Raleigh  during 
the  campaign,  and,  with  myself  and  others,  taken 
a  ride  into  the  country  where  his  ancestors  had 
lived,  near  the  city,  sought  me  out,  soon  after  I 
arrived  in  Washington,  and  repeatedly  told  me  to 


64  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

tell  his  friends  in  North  Carolina  to  fight  for  their 
rights,  and  to  assure  them  that  when  the  Abolition- 
ists started  with  an  army  to  fight  the  South,  he, 
and  thousands  of  good  Southern  men  in  the  North, 
would  give  them  h — 1  in  the  rear.  He  might  have 
done  so  after  the  war  began,  but  his  friends  down 
here  never  heard  of  it.  Governor  Bragg,  I  remem- 
ber, said,  '^Tell  my  friends  at  home  to  move  slowly 
in  the  matter  of  secession:  "Fools  rush  in,  where 
angels  fear  to  tread.'' 


CHAPTEE  X. 

Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind  Institution — Governor  Gra- 
ham— Thaiiksgiving — The  Mexican  War — ^'Jach 
MitchelV' 

In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  of  1848-'49, 
Governor  Graham  said :  "A  contract  has  been  made 
for  suitable  buildings  in  Ealeigh  for  the  education 
of  deaf  mutes  and  blind  persons,  according  to  the 
acts  of  the  last  session,  and  these  edifices  are  par- 
tially finished.''  The  Governor  also  stated  that  a 
school  for  the  instruction  of  deaf  mutes  was  then 
in  successful  operation  and  contained  twenty-five 
pupils.  The  Legislature  which  authorized  the  erec- 
tion of  the  buildings  of  the  present  blind  institution 
was  that  of  184()-'47.  I  Avas  at  school  here  at  the 
time  the  buildings  were  going  up,  and  I  remember 
1  wondered  where  in  the  whole  world  enough  deaf 
mutes  and  blind  could  be  found  to  fill  those  im- 
mense buildings,  for,  raised  in  a  corner  as  I  was, 
I  had  never  seen  but  one  or  two  blind  persons,  and 
not  a  single  deaf  mute.  But  when  the  buildings 
were  completed,  the  fact  very  soon  was  made  mani- 
fest that  they  were  not  too  large.     And  what  a 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  65 

blessing  that  iustitution  has  been,  is,  and  will  ever 
be  to  the  unfortunate  children  of  our  State.  From 
that  little  beginning  of  twenty-five  pupils,  of  which 
the  Governor  spake,  have  grown  the  two  gTand 
schools :  the  deaf  mute  of  Morganton,  and  the  blind 
of  this  cit3^,  added  to  Avhich  is  the  Deaf,  Dumb  and 
Blind  School,  also  of  this  city,  for  colored  children, 
bestowing  immeasurable  blessings  upon  hundreds 
of  homes,  in  the  education  and  training  of  their  un- 
fortunate ones,  who  but  for  such  training  would 
have  lived  and  died  in  darkness. 

Speaking  of  Governor  Graham,  I  am  reminded  to 
say,  it  was  he  who  suggested,  in  his  message  of 
1848,  that  the  Legislature  should  adopt  a  joint 
resolution,  requesting  the  Governor,  in  future,  to 
recommend  some  d-d.j  in  each  3  ear  to  be  observed 
as  a  Thanksgiving  Day.  North  Carolina  had  not, 
up  to  that  time,  kept  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  al- 
though, as  the  Governor  said,  '^the  custom  of  such 
an  observance  is  now  nearly  universal  in  other 
States."  Governor  Graham  was  a  model  chief  ex- 
ecutive, a  finished  scholar,  an  able  lawyer  and  a 
polished  gentleman  of  the  old  school.  My  recollec- 
tion of  him  leaves  the  impression  upon  my  mind 
that,  in  addition  to  his  many  other  good  qualities, 
he  had  a  dignity  of  manner  and  carriage  that  would 
say,  more  forcibly  than  words:  ^'He's  the  Gover- 
nor!" 

The  Mexican  War  occurred  during  Governor 
Graham's  administration,  and  it  became  his  duty 
to  raise  a  regiment  of  volunteers  in  this  State.  A 
company  of  said  regiment  was  raised  partly  here 
in  Ealeigh  by  Captain  William  J.  Clarke,  a  young 
man  reared  in  this  city  and  educated  at  Chapel 
Hill,  and  who  by  profession  was  a  lawyer.  He 
was  a  brave  and  gallant  officer,  and  was  promoted 
by  the  President  and  Senate  for  his  courage  and 


66  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

splendid  conduct  in  battle  at  the  National  Bridge, 
Mexico,  where  he  received  a  severe  wound.  He 
married  Miss  Mary  Bayard  Devereux,  who  made 
herself  well  and  popularly  known  in  the  South  as 
a  writer  of  verse  and  of  fiction.  In  the  Civil  War 
Major  Clarke  was  made  a  colonel,  and  added  fresh 
laurels  to  his  military  fame.  After  the  war  he  w^as 
made  a  judge  and  resided  in  New  Bern. 

One  of  the  men  who  went  from  Raleigh,  in  Cap- 
tain Clarke's  company,  to  Mexico,  was  A.  J.  Mit- 
chell, known  as  ^^Jack  Mitchell."  He  was  a  good 
soldier,  and  did  good  service  until  wounded  and 
so  disabled  as  to  be  unfit  for  further  duties,  when 
he  received  an  honorable  discharge.  But,  as  I  re- 
member, he  went  as  a  soldier  in  Lee's  army,  and 
served  through  the  war  between  the  States.  But 
what  I  wish  to  say  of  "Jack  Mitchell"  occurred  just 
after  the  war,  in  1868  or  1869. 

The  Order  of  the  Friends  of  Temperance  was 
making  considerable  headway  in  this  city,  in  the 
work  of  pledging  men  to  total  abstinence,  and  sow- 
ing the  seeds  of  temperance  among  the  young  peo- 
ple; and  so,  at  every  meeting  of  the  lodge,  there 
were  several  initiations  and  as  many  more  petitions 
to  be  acted  upon.  One  night,  to  the  astonishment 
of  every  member  of  the  lodge,  the  name  of  Jack 
Mitchell  was  proposed  for  membership.  The 
brother  who  brought  in  his  name  made  a  very  earn- 
est and  Christly  talk  to  the  lodge,  on  presenting 
the  candidate's  name,  saying  if  there  was  any  man 
in  the  city  who  needed  to  be  helped.  Jack  Mitchell 
was  that  man,  for  unless  sometliing  was  done,  and 
that  speedily,  he  would  die  of  drunkenness  and  be 
lost.  The  ballot  was  favorable,  and  Jack  Mitchell, 
the  drunkard,  was  declared  elected  to  membership, 
and  at  the  next  meeting  he  was  duly  initiated.  He 
was  not  drunk  at  the  time,  but  had  been  drinking, 
as  was  verv  manifest  bv  the  odor  of  alcohol  which 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  67 

came  in  with  him.  Nevertheless,  the  ceremony  went 
on,  and  finally  "Brother  MitchelP'  was  given  the 
right  hand  of  fellowship  by  all  the  members  of  the 
lodge,  both  men  and  women.  I  shall  never  forget 
his  look,  for  by  the  time  the  initiation  ended  he 
was  thoroughly  sobered,  had  come  to  himself, 
and  was  conscious  that  he  had  gotten  into  a  new 
and  better  atmosphere.  During  the  remainder  of 
the  meeting  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  daze;  and,  when 
the  lodge  closed,  he  left  so  hastily  many  thought  he 
was  hurrying  to  a  bar-room.  At  the  next  meeting 
of  the  lodge  he  was  there,  and  not  only  cool  sober, 
but  altogether  changed  for  the  better  in  appear- 
ance. Jack  Mitchell,  I  ought  to  say,  was  a  stone 
cutter,  and  at  the  time  of  which  I  am  now  writing, 
he  was  working  on  the  penitentiary.  His  home  was 
near  the  old  rock  quarry,  and  so  to  get  to  his  work 
he  had  to  pass  througli  the  city.  A  few  weeks  after 
he  joined  the  Friends  of  Temperance,  I  was  awak- 
ened about  daybreak  one  morning  by  a  most  terrific 
banging  on  my  front  door.  I  ran  with  all  haste  to 
the  door,  thinking  nothing  else  than  that  the  house 
was  on  fire  and  somebody  was  trying  to  save  us. 
As  I  opened  the  door,  a  voice  in  a  loud  tone  said : 
"Don't  be  scared;  it's  nobody  but  Jack  Mitchell; 
and  here's  a  two-dollar  bill ;  send  me  the  temperance 
paper.  I  must  be  going,  for  I  work  at  the  peniten- 
tiary ;  so  good  morning !"  I  don't  think  I  went  back 
to  bed,  for  the  reception  of  that  two-dollar  bill  so 
excited  me  I  could  not  have  slept  any  more. 

About  a  year  after  Jack  joined  the  lodge  I  met 
him  near  the  corner  of  Williams  and  Haywood's 
drug  store,  dressed  as  if  going  to  church,  though  in 
the  middle  of  the  week;  and  as  he  approached  me, 
extending  his  two  great  brawny  hands,  and  grasp- 
ing both  of  mine,  he  said :  "I'm  keeping  my  birth- 
day!" Seeing  that  I  did  not  understand,  he  ex- 
I)lained :    "I'm  keeping  my  temperance  birth-day." 


68  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

And  then  he  went  on  to  say:  ^^I^ve  been  sober  a 
whole  year,  and  I  feel  like  a  gentleman.  About  a 
year  ago,  one  morning,  I  was  'round  there  at  Mr. 
Upchurch's  store,  half  drunk — for  I  never  went 
any  other  way  than  half  drunk  or  whole  drunk — 
and  a  man  came  along  and  said  something  about 
my  joining  the  temperance  society,  but  I  didn't  pay 
much  attention  to  him,  for  I  had  no  notion  of  join- 
ing anything  but  a  bar-room. 

^'But  next  morning,  Needham  Broughton  (I  think 
it  was  Needham),  met  me  in  the  market  and  says 
to  me,  ^Jack,  we  elected  you  last  night.'  ^Elected 
me  to  w^hat?'  says  I.  ^A  member  of  the  temperance 
society,'  says  he.  ^How  come  you  to  elect  me?' 
says  I.  ^Because  we  thought  you'd  make  a  good 
member,'  says  he.  I  couldn't  speak  for  a  minute, 
for  I  didn't  know  what  to  say.  The  idea  of  my  be- 
ing elected  was  more  than  I  could  understand,  for 
I  knew  I  was  not  fit  to  be  elected  to  anything;  but 
after  awhile  I  said:  ^Well,  if  I'm  elected,  I'll  be 
there  next  Tuesday  night.'  And  I  w^as,  and  when  I 
was  initiated  and  all  the  members — women  and  all 
— came  around  and  took  my  hand  and  called  me 
^Brother  Mitchell,'  and  said  they  w^ere  glad  to  have 
me  as  a  brother  member,  it  just  seemed  to  me  as  if 
my  heart  would  burst,  I  was  so  full.  Just  to  think 
that  I  was  ^Brother  Mitchell' ;  I,  who  had  not  been 
cool  sober  in  a  year;  I,  lying  Jack  Mitchell  (for  a 
man  who  gets  drunk  will  lie)  ;  I  didn't  know^  what 
to  say  nor  what  to  do;  for,  as  I  say,  my  heart  was 
too  full."  While  he  was  saying  all  this,  and  still 
holding  my  hands,  streams  of  tears  were  running 
down  his  face.  ^^Thank  God,"  he  continued,  "I 
have  been  sober  a  whole  3^ear,  and  this  is  my  birth- 
day— my  temperance  birthday.  I  have  paid  off  the 
mortgage  on  my  little  home,  and  saved  money 
enough  to  buy  some  good  clothes  for  me  and  the 
old  woman ;  and  I  have  got  plenty  to  eat  at  home ; 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  69 

and  just  look  at  this!" — showing  nie  a  roll  of  bills 
as  big  as  my  wrist — "here's  what  the  bar-keepers 
would  have  got  if  I  had  not  joined  the  temperance 
society.  They've  tried  mighty  hard  to  get  it — even 
sent  for  me  to  come  around  and  see  them  for  the 
sake  of  old  times;  but  I  sent  them  word  back  that 
I  was  ashamed  of  the  old  time;^,  and  didn't  want  to 
remember  them;  and  so  I  didn't  go  round  to  see 
them.  But  I  hain't  told  you  the  half  yet,  Brother 
Whitaker.  I  went  to  the  revival  up  at  the  Metho- 
dist church,  and  the  first  time  they  called  for 
mourners  I  went  and  fell  right  down  on  my  knees 
and  prayed  until  I  felt  the  load  had  been  taken  off 
of  my  poor,  sinful  heart;  and,  Brother  Whitaker, 
I'm  in  the  Lord's  army  now,  and  intend  to  fight  it 
out.  I  was  true  to  old  Taylor  in  Mexico,  and  to  old 
Bob  Lee  in  Virginia,  and  bless  His  holy  name,  1 
intend  to  be  true  to  Jesus,  who  died  to  save  my 
soul.  Yes,  this  is  my  first  birthday,"  and  giving 
my  hands  another  hearty  shake,  he  went  on  doAvn 
the  street,  sa.ying  to  himself  as  he  went:  "Bless 
the  Lord  for  saving  such  a  drunkard  as  Jack 
Mitchell." 

After  Jack  became  a  member  of  Edenton  Street 
Church,  he  usually  sat  on  the  end  of  a  pew  right  in 
front  of  the  preacher,  with  his  ear  trumpet  to  catch 
every  word  as  it  fell  from  the  preacher's  lips.  When 
the  service  ended,  he  hastened  out,  took  the  middle 
of  the  street,  and,  talking  to  himself,  he  wc3nt  along 
praising  the  Lord.  And,  if  I  met  him  any  time  the 
next  week,  he  would  be  almost  certain  to  refer  to 
the  good  sermon  and  the  good  meeting  of  last  Sun- 
day. In  the  course  of  time,  Jack  died  in  the  faith 
and  went  home  to  his  reward.  Drunkard  as  he 
was,  that  Gospel  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  lifted  him  out  of  that  degraded  condition 
and  fitted  him  for  the  heavenly  land  where  the 
"wicked  cease  from  troublincr,  and  the  wearv  are  at 


70  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

rest.''  When  I  remember  the  noble  fight  he  made, 
and  the  victory  he  won,  I  think  of  him  as  a  hero  of 
the  Pauline  type;  and  the  miracle,  which  changed 
him  in  old  age  from  a  drunkard  to  a  gentle  follower 
of  Jesus,  was  no  less  than  that  which  changed  Saul 
of  Tarsus  from  a  persecutor  of  Jesus  to  an  apostle 
to-  the  Gentiles,  for  Jesus'  sake. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Gen.  L.   O^B.  Branch — Eoio  I  Got  Into  Politics ^ 
and  Eotv  I  Got  Out. 

The  death  of  Mrs.  L.  O'B.  Branch  of  this  city  the 
9th  of  November,  1903,  brought  up  many  old  inci- 
dents of  the  ante-bellum  period,  of  which  the  world 
will  never  hear  unless  they  are  written  up  very 
soon.  General  Branch  was  one  of  the  few  men  in 
my  young  days  in  whom  I  had  implicit  confidence 
and  whose  suggestions  I  was  always  ready  to  ac- 
cept and  act  upon. 

A  little  circumstance  unexpectedly  drew  me  into 
politics  in  1858,  and  Gen.  Branch  at  the  time  was 
the  party  leader.  He  was  a  partisan,  that  is,  he 
held  tenaciously  to  party  creed  and  stood  squarely 
on  its  platform;  yet  he  was  as  fair  and  as  conscien- 
tious in  debate,  and  as  just  to  an  opponent,  as  a 
sacred  regard  for  the  golden  rule  could  make  him. 
I  was  honored  in  my  young  days  with  his  confi- 
dence during  a  heated  campaign,  but  I  do  not  re- 
member that  I  ever  heard  him  utter  a  word  of  un- 
kindness  about  anyone,  however  sharp  the  contest 
between  him  and  those  who  opposed  him.  Being  a 
thoroughbred  gentleman,  he  had  no  patience  with 
the  sharp  tricks  of  the  wily  politician  who  often 
resorts  to  harsh  words,  short  cuts,  and  to  means 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  71 

that  are  unfair.  He  seemed  to  think  that  all  men, 
like  himself,  were  gentlemen  and  were  entitled  to 
the  respect  due  to  gentlemen.  He  represented  the 
metropolitan  district  in  Congress,  following  as  I 
remember,  Hon.  Sion  H.  Rogers,  a  Whig,  wlio  in 
the  campaign  of  1853  defeated  Maj.  A.  M.  Lewis, 
the  regular  Democratic  nominee,  and  Hon.  Abram 
W.  Venable,  an  independent  Democratic  candidate. 
During  Mr.  Branch's  first  term  in  Congress  he  in- 
troduced a  bill  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
called  the  ^'Thirty  Million  Bill,"  looking  to  the 
purchase  of  Cuba  from  the  Spanish  government, 
which  amount  my  recollection  is  Spain  was  willing 
to  take  for  the  ''Queen  of  the  Antilles,"  at  that 
time;  and  the  bill  might  have  been  passed  and  the 
trade  been  effected  but  for  the  strong  abolition  sen- 
timent North,  which  was  determined  that  slavery 
should  not  be  strengthened  by  the  acquisition  of  any 
more  Southern  territory.  If  in  1858  that  thirty 
million  bill  had  passed  and  Cuba  had  been  annexed 
to  the  Union  with  her  rich  sugar  estates  and  her 
slaves,  the  Civil  War  might  have  been  indefinitely 
postponed,  and  the  bloody  chasm,  which  has  not 
yet  been  entirely  leveled  up,  might  never  have  been 
dug.  Monopolists  and  low-bred  money  kings,  who 
now  lord  it  over  the  poor,  might  never  have  gotten 
higher  in  the  financial  world  than  gamblers  and 
thimble  riggers,  and  the  statesmen,  Avho,  by  some 
kind  of  hocus  pocus,  manage  to  become  millionaires 
during  a  single  term  of  Congress,  might  have  lived 
hcmest  lives,  died  happy  and  gone  home  to  heaven. 
But,  alas!  our  Northern  brethren  who  after  they 
had  imported  the  negroes  into  this  country,  sold 
them  to  the  Southerners  and  gotten  rich  in  the 
transaction,  were  getting  immensely  pious  about 
that  time  and  couldn't  bear  the  idea  of  seeing 
Cuba  with  all  her  slaves  added  to  the  Southern  end 
of   the   Union;    so    the    thirty-million    bill    failed, 


72  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

though  General  Branch  was  re-elected  and  was  in 
Congress  when  in  1861  the  State  seceded. 

I  have  several  letters  received  from  him  while  in 
Congress  which  I  value  ver^^  highly,  and  when  the 
noAvs  came  after  the  battle  of  Shaipsburg  that  he 
had  been  killed,  I  felt  that  one  of  the  bravest  and 
truest  of  men  had  fallen,  and  I  had  lost  a  friend 
whose  memory  I  would  never  cease  to  cherish.  Gen- 
eral Branch  was  for  a  while  president  of  the  Kaleigh 
and  Gaston  Eailroad;  indeed,  he  was  occupying 
that  position  when  first  nominated  for  Congress. 
He  was  commissioned  a  Brigadier-General  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  but  for  his  untimely 
death  the  opinion  was  that  he  would  have  been 
promoted  very  soon  to  a  Major-General. 

I  said  above  that  a  little  circumstance  drew  me 
into  politics,  which  I  had  as  well  explain,  as  it  may 
explain  some  other  things.  I  was  quietly  pursuing 
the  even  tenor  of  my  way,  publishing  the  Raleigh 
Christian  Advocate,  the  Live  Giraffe,  and  doing  tlie 
press- work  of  the  Raleigh  Register,  and  had  no  more 
idea  of  being  drawn  into  the  political  Avhirlpool 
than  I  had  of  being  killed  by  a  cyclone.  It  came 
this  way.  The  town  clock  struck  twel/e  one  day 
and  all  hands,  editor,  printers  and  the  "devil," 
started  to  dinner;  but  just  then  the  bell  over  the 
market  house,  known  as  the  Town  Hall,  began  to 
ring  for  a  Democratic  meeting,  the  object  of  Avhich 
was  to  elect  delegates  to  a  congressional  convention, 
to  be  held  at  Franklinton,  to  nominate  a  candidate 
for  Congress,  Hon.  L.  O'B.  Branch  then  being  the 
Kepresentative.  As  I  was  passing  the  town  "hall, 
Mr.  Quentin  Busbee  hailed  me  and  insisted  that  I 
should  stop  and  attend  the  meeting,  and  as  an  in- 
ducement to  me  to  stop  said  they  wanted  me  to  act 
a:.'  secretary.  I  yielded ;  the  meeting  was  called  to 
order,  W.  B.  Allen,  Esq.,  was  made  president  and  T 
requested  to  act  as  secretary.     For  a  few  moments 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


73 


Gen.  LAWRENCE  O'B.  BRANCH, 
Born  in  Enfield,  Halifax  County,  N.  C,  Nov.  28,  1820. 
Killed  at  Sharpsburg,  Sept.  18, 1862. 


74  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

it  had  the  appearance  of  being  a  very  uninteresting 
affair,  as  no  one  seemed  inclined  to  make  a  move, 
although  the  house  was  full  and  the  strongest  men 
of  the  Democratic  party,  town  and  county,  were 
there.  From  the  city  were  Ed.  Graham  Haywood, 
A.  M.  Lewis,  Judge  Cantwell,  Moses  A.  Bledsoe, 
Quentin  Busbee,  George  W.  Brooks,  Frank  I.  Wil 
son  and  others  whom  I  do  not  now  remember,  while 
a  host  of  the  unterrified  from  the  country  were  in 
attendance.  After  a  good  deal  of  whispering  and 
undertone  conversation,  h^ld  here  and  there  in  the 
hall,  a  move  was  made  to  the  effect  that,  "it  is  the 
sense  of  the  meeting  that  the  delegates  chosen  to 
attend  the  Franklinton  convention  shall  go  unin- 
structed,  and  vote  as  they  please  in  the  selection  of 
a  candidate."  That  motion  opened  the  ball  and  the 
fun  commenced  in  earnest.  The  friends  of  Mr. 
Branch  were  determined  to  instruct  the  delegates 
to  vote  for  him  for  another  term,  for  the  two-fold 
reason  that  he  was  entitled  to  it,  and  ought  to  have 
an  endorsement  for  what  he  had  done  and  tried  to 
do,  especially  in  the  matter  of  the  thirty-million 
bill.  Some  other  delegates,  prominent  a.mong  them 
were  Moses  A.  Bledsoe,  Quentin  Busbee  and  George 
W.  Brooks,  contended  that  the  c'elegates  should 
not  be  instructed. 

The  fight  was  long  and  persistent,  and  in  the  de- 
bate it  cropped  out  that  (so  the  Branch  men  said) 
a  cut  and  dried  programme  had  been  arranged  to 
defeat  the  re-nomination  of  Mr.  Branch,  but  it 
failed,  for  the  delegates,  when  finally  appointed, 
were  instructed  to  cast  the  solid  vote  of  Wake 
County  for  Hon.  L.  O'B.  Granch,  first,  last  and  all 
the  time. 

At  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting,  no  motion 
was  made  to  have  the  proceedings  published  in  any 
paper;  so,  being  in  possession  of  them,  I  prepared 
them  for  the  press  and  on  Wednesday  I  published 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  75 

them  in  the  Live  Giraffe^  innocently  supposing  I 
was  doing  a  very  commendable  thing,  furnishing 
a  proof-sheet  of  them,  in  the  meantime,  to  the 
Standard y  the  organ  of  the  Democratic  party.  No 
sooner  did  the  Giraffe  make  its  appearance  on  Wed- 
nesday than  I  found  myself  in  hot  water.  What 
I  thought  was  a  most  impartial  report  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  meeting  was  termed  "one-sided,'' 
"distorted,"  "unfair,"  "unjust,"  and  a  great  many 
other  very  uncomplimentary  things,  and  I  was  so 
discouraged  at  the  outcome  of  my  first  dabble  in 
politics  I  was  about  to  determine  that  I  would 
never  go  to  another  political  meeting.  But  pretty 
soon  here  came  some  of  Mr.  Branch's  friends  and 
consoled  me  somewhat  by  saying  my  report  was 
"very  fine,"  and  "very  impartial,"  and  "very  fair," 
and  so  forth  and  so  one,  and  they  thought  I  did  a 
very  proper  thing,  and  exhibited  an  enterprising 
spirit  that  ought  to  be  commended  in  giving  to  the 
public  two  days  earlier  than  any  other  paper  could 
publish  them,  the  proceedings  of  so  large  and  en- 
thusiastic a  meeting  of  the  Wake  Democracy.  Of 
course  I  felt  better,  but  I  was  not  feeling  altogether 
at  ease,  because,  somehow,  I  had  a  presentiment 
that  there  was  electricity  in  the  political  atmos- 
phere and  there  might  be  heavy  thunder  and  some 
terrific  flashes  of  lightning  before  the  atmosphere 
was  cleared  up.  And  my  presentiment  was  a 
prophecy.  When  the  Standard  came  from  the  press 
Friday  morning  it  was  red  hot;  three  long  columns, 
besides  a  great  many  little  shells,  coming  from  all 
quarters  of  the  paper,  were  turned  loose  upon  the 
Giraffe  and  its  "insignificant,"  "inexperienced"  and 
"unscrupulous"  editor,  and  the  public  were  told, 
after  the  Giraffe  and  its  editor  had  been  completely 
annihilated,  that  the  Standard  had  "the  power  to 
kill  and  make  alive." 

While  the  Giraffe  and  its  editor  were  frequently 


76  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

mentioned,  it  Avas  but  too  plain  that  the  thunder- 
bolts were  intended  for  other  and  bigger  game,  and 
the  consequence  was  that  in  a  day  a  revolution  took 
place  that  greatly  changed  the  course  of  men  and 
things,  in  the  fourth  congressional  district  espe- 
cially, and  largely  in  the  State.  The  next  week 
the  Live  Giraffe  became  the  Deniocratic  Fress^  and 
during  that  campaign,  as  well  as  the  gubernatorial 
campaign  two  years  later,  the  Press  had  the  benefit 
of  the  very  best  help  which  such  men  as  Governor 
Bragg,  Hon.  L.  O'B.  Branch,  Ed.  Graham  Hay- 
wood and  Edward  Cantwell  could  find  time  to  con- 
tribute. 

Thus  I  got  into  politics,  and  now,  if  the  reader 
will  be  patient  a  few  moments  longer,  I  will  tell 
him  how  I  got  out,  and  thereby  hangs  a  tale — yes, 
two  or  three  of  them — but  I  will  try  to  make  them 
short. 

The  question  of  Ad  Valorem  taxation  was  a  live 
one  in  those  days,  and  for  a  while  parties  were 
afraid  to  take  sides  on  it  for  the  reason  that  it  was 
considered  a  dangerous  question  to  be  discussed 
just  at  that  time,  as  the  abolitionists  were,  and 
had  been,  doing  all  they  could  to  weaken  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery.  Mr.  Syme,  the  editor  of  the 
Raleigh  Register^  took  the  ground  in  his  paper  that 
the  question  was  a  very  improper  one  to  raise  in 
the  then  very  highly  excited  condition  of  the  coun- 
try. The  Standard,  the  Democratic  organ,  came 
out  strongly  and  unequivocally  in  favor  of  Ad 
Valorem,  and  published  what  was  known  as  the 
"Working  Men's  Address,"  in  pamphlet  form  and 
broadcasted  it  all  over  the  State.  When,  in  1860, 
the  election  for  governor  and  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature was  coming  on  the  question  had  to  be  met  by 
the  State  conventions  and  positions  taken  by  them. 
The  Whig  convention  met  first  and  passed  a  resolu- 
tion endorsing  the  doctrine  of  Ad  Valorem,  and 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  77 

nominated  for  governor  John  Pool,  of  Pasquotank. 
Mr.  Sjme,to  be  in  harmony  with  the  utterance  of  the 
convention,  had  to  turn  a  somersault  on  the  ques- 
tion and  get  on  the  platform.  In  a  short  while  the 
Democratic  convention  met  and  re-nominated  Gov- 
ernor Ellis  and  passed  a  resolution  opposing  Ad 
Valorem.  The  editor  of  the  Standard^  like  Mr. 
Syme,  was  obliged  to  turn  a  somersault  to  get  on  the 
Democratic  platform.  He  was  unwilling  to  turn 
and  would  not  turn ;  so  the  State  executive  commit- 
tee, consisting  of  Ed.  Graham  Hayw^ood,  chairman, 
James  Fulton,  John  Kerr,  Thos.  Settle,  Jr.,  D.  M. 
Barringer,  W.  L.  Tate,  William  Sloane  and  George 
Greene,  to  relieve  the  situation,  made  the  Demo- 
cratic Press  the  organ  of  the  party,  instead  of  the 
Standard^  with  the  assurance  from  Governor  Ellis 
that  I  should  be  made  State  printer  if  he  were 
elected  and  the  Democrats  controlled  the  Legisla- 
ture. He  was  elected  and  the  Democrats  controlled 
the  Legislature,  but  I  was  not  made  State  printer. 
I  did  not  go  up  to  the  capitol  the  night  the  Legisla- 
ture held  the  caucus  to  make  nominations — mod- 
esty forbade — and  I  thought  to  be  informed  of  my 
nomination  the  next  morning  would  be  more  ap- 
propriate. So  I  went  to  bed  and  was  soon  sound 
asleep.  But  about  midnight  I  was  aroused  to  be 
informed  that  Governor  Ellis,  to  relieve  John  Spel- 
man,  Esq.,  who  had  also  done  good  work  in  the 
campaign,  had  decided  it  would  be  the  proper  thing 
to  give  me  "something  better,"  and  make  Mr.  Spel- 
man  the  State  printer.  The  "something  better" 
that  I  got  was  the  sale  of  my  paper  to  Mr.  Spelman 
for  three  thousand,  five  hundred  dollars.  Governor 
Ellis  and  friends  to  secure  the  payments  which 
they  did:  was  chosen  messenger  to  carry  the  vote 
of  the  State  to  Washington  City  for  Breckenridge 
and  Lane,  and  lastly  was  made  reading  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Commons.     I  will  leave  it  for  the  reader 


78  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

if  I  did  not  get  out  better  than  I  went  into  politics. 
I  shall  never  cease  to  thank  Governor  Ellis  for  giv- 
ing the  matter  the  turn  he  did,  for  the  little  experi- 
ence I  had  had  thoroughly  disgusted  me  with  poli- 
tics. Mr.  Spelman,  my  successor,  was  an  old 
stager  in  newspaper  life,  and  did  not  care  what 
people  or  papers  might  say  about  him,  but  took 
things  quietly  and  philosophically.  Nevertheless, 
he  had  to  go  through  some  very  rough  scenes  as 
the  organ  of  the  party,  and  I  was  sorry  for  him — 
but  glad  all  the  same  I  was  out. 

I  have  steered  shy  of  political  meetings  ever 
since,  and  while  I  am  very  much  interested  in  poli- 
tics and  take  pleasure  in  watching  political  move- 
ments I  prefer  to  see  them  at  a  distance.  There 
is  not  a  movement  on  the  political  board  that  I  do 
not  notice  and  bestow  more  or  less  of  thought  upon; 
but  I  am  coming  to  the  conclusion  as  I  gTow  older 
that  the  less  one  has  to  do  with  politics  the  happier 
he  may  be,  and,  consequently  have  fewer  sins  to 
answer  for  in  the  great  day. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  79 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Raleigh  and  Gaston  Road — Christopher  Thomas^ 

Dream. 

I  had  somewhat  to  say  of  the  old  Raleigh  and 
Gaston  Railroad  in  one  of  my  recent  sketches, 
speaking  of  its  very  bad  condition,  but  I  did  not 
take  time  to  deal  in  particulars  as  to  its  earnings 
and  expenditures.  I  was  reading  a  few  days  ago  a 
financial  statement  showing  the  condition  of  the 
Seaboard  Air  Line  system,  and  I  remembered  the 
time  when  the  earnings  of  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston 
Road  were  not  above  |65,000  a  year.  In  184S  the 
earnings  of  the  road  w^ere  |57,000,  and  the  disburse- 
ments 152,500.  On  the  night  of  the  25th  of  Febru- 
ary of  that  year  the  machine  shop  and  engine  house, 
with  all  their  contents  of  a  combustible  nature, 
were  destroyed  by  fire.  Such  was  the  extremity 
into  which  the  road  was  brought  by  that  fire  that  it 
became  a  question  with  the  State  whether  to  try  to 
borrow  money  to  repair  the  damages,  or  sell  the 
road.  Governor  Graham  convened  the  council  of 
state  and  submitted  to  them  the  question  of  calling 
an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  either  to  provide 
means  to  meet  the  occasion,  mortgage  the  road  or 
to  sell  it.  I  do  not  remember  just  how  the  matter 
was  arranged,  but  this  I  do  know,  that  the  difficulty 
was  overcome,  the  machine  shops  rebuilt  and  the 
road  took  on  a  new  lease  of  life. 

The  old  Raleigh  and  Gaston  after  it  was  laid 
with  "U''  iron,  soon  acquired  the  reputation  of  al- 
ways being  on  time.  So  much  so  that  w^e  all  knew 
to  the  minute  what  time  it  was  when  we  heard  the 
whistle  of  the  incoming  train.  Further  along  I 
will  speak  of  this  road  and  its  able  management  in 
modern  times — that  is,  since  the  war. 


80  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Railroads  used  to  be  more  accommodating  than 
they  are  now.  About  half  an  hour  before  leaving 
time  the  engineer  would  let  off  his  whistle  in  a  blow 
that  lasted  for  fully  a  minute.  That  long  blast 
was  understood  to  mean  that  in  thirty  minutes  the 
train  would  leave ;  so,  if  one  had  not  yet  gotten  out 
of  bed,  he  knew  just  how  many  minutes  he  could 
devote  to  his  toilet,  how  many  to  his  breakfast,  and 
how  much  time  would  be  left  to  reach  the  depot. 
One  minute  before  the  train  left  the  whistle  blew 
again,  when  the  tardy  fellow  would  strike  a  trot, 
and  reach  the  train  just  as  it  began  to  move.  One 
day  I  was  belated  and  the  train  was  moving  off 
when  I  got  in  sight  of  it.  The  engineer  could  not 
stop  for  me;  but,  seeing  me  running,  a  hundred 
yards  or  more  away,  he  moved  along  at  a  snail's 
pace,  the  wheels  barely  turning,  until  he  saw  that 
I  was  on  board,  when  he  pulled  open  the  throttle 
and  sped  away.  He  knew  I  would  be  disappointed 
if  left,  and  he  made  it  possible  for  me  to  go,  yet 
Avithout  stopping  his  train.  On  another  occasion 
T\'e  stopped  at  a  breakfast  station;  the  conductor, 
engineer  and  passengers  all  eating  at  the  same 
table.  After  breakfast  we  passengers  went  aboard, 
but  the  conductor  did  not  happen  to  see  me,  when 
I  entered  the  car;  so,  after  he  had  given  the  signal 
to  start,  I  heard  him  say  ^'Lold  on,''  and  speaking 
to  the  hotel  man,  he  asked,  ^^Has  Whitaker  come 
out?"  I  answered  for  myself  from  inside  the  car, 
when  he  said  to  the  engineer — "Go  ahead !" 

They  are  not  so  accommodating  now,  so  a  fellow 
has  to  keep  the  right  time,  and  be  on  time,  or  he 
will  be  left.  I  guess  it  is  better  for  us  that  we  have 
to  move  up  a  little  faster,  and  be  a  little  more 
prompt,  than  we  were  in  the  past ;  and  if  the  rail- 
roads teach  us  these  lessons  we  ought  to  be  thankful 
and  not  complain. 

But  coming  back  to  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston,  al- 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  81 

though  it  now  belongs  to  a  great  system  the  annual 
earnings  of  which  run  up  into  the  millions,  and  its 
trains  are  moving  palaces,  and  its  traffic  streams  of 
cars  miles  and  miles  long;  and  its  officials  receiv- 
ing salaries  that,  even  to  old  Croesus  himself,  would 
have  seemed  fabulous;  yet,  it  is  not  half  so  big  a 
thing  to  the  boy  of  to-day,  as  it  was  to  the  boy  of 
my  day,  when  those  terrible  monsters,  "Tornado,'' 
"^Whirhvind,''  "Volcano"  and  "Spitfire,"  were  pull- 
ing two  or  three  cars  at  the  rate  of  ten  or  fifteen 
miles  an  hour,  when  the  engineer  had  to  take  all 
the  w^eather,  because  there  was  no  cab  to  shelter 
him.  As  Uncle  Kemus  says  of  "Br'er  Rabbit,"  "he 
was  a  mity  man  in  he  day,"  may  be  as  truthfully 
said  of  those  little  engines — they  were  mighty  en- 
gines in  their  day ;  but  the  four  put  together,  with 
their  awe-inspiring  names,  would  not  equal  one  of 
the  fine  engines  which  go  skipping  along  at  the  rate 
of  fifty  miles  an  hour,  pulling  eight  or  ten  heavy 
coaches;  much  less  one  of  those  monsters  that  can 
move,  up  hill  and  down  hill,  at  a  rapid  rate  with 
fifty  loaded  cars.  As  I  lock  back  to  1848  and  be- 
hold the  little  thing  called  a  train,  poking  along  on 
the  level,  running  like  fury  down  grade,  but  puff- 
ing up  grade,  and  compare  it  with  the  train  I  see 
sweeping  along  majestically,  paying  no  heed  to 
grades,  curves  nor  bridges,  I  realize  that  a  mighty 
change  has  taken  place  which  only  he  who  has  seen 
the  past  as  well  as  the  present,  can  appreciate. 
But,  enough  of  railroads  for  this  time,  and  I  will 
relate  a  story  which  not  only  takes  the  reader 
away  back  to  times  long  past,  but  will  suggest 
other  thoughts,  and  perhaps  better  emotions.  I 
do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  story,  but,  as  I 
heard  I  tell,  and  let  the  reader  think  it  over  and 
come  to  his  own  conclusion. 


82  WHlTAKEil^S    REMINISCENCES, 

Kev.  Christoplier  Thomas  Bailey,  D.D.,  for  many 
years  the  able  editor  of  the  Biblical  Recorder,  was 
reared  by  Methodist  parents,  and  was  named  for  a 
Methodist  preacher  of  the  Virgiuia  Conference, 
when  that  Conference  and  the  South  Carolina  Con- 
ference shook  hands  across  the  old  North  JState,  and 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  North  Carolina  Meth- 
odist Conference. 

In  a  conversation  with  him  one  day,  he  remarked 
that,  though  a  Baptist,  he  came  of  good  Methodist 
stock,  and  proceeded  to  relate  a  very  thrilling  story 
concerning  the  preacher  for  whom  he  was  named, 
and  offered  to  lend  me  a  pamphlet  written  and  pub 
lished  by  Key.  Leroy  M.  Lee,  of  Richmond,  Ya., 
which  would  give  the  story  more  fully  than  he  could 
relate  it.  I  read  the  pamphlet  and,  as  I  remember 
it,  the  story  was  briefly  told,  about  as  follows,  not 
giving  dates : 

A  session  of  the  Virginia  Conference  was  about 
to  convene  at  Lynchburg,  and  the  preachers,  on 
horseback,  were  coming  in  from  all  directions,  and 
the  nearer  they  came  to  the  place  of  meeting  the 
larger  became  the  companies;  so  that,  on  the  last 
night  before  they  reached  Lynchburg  many  a  farm- 
house was  filled  with  Methodist  preachers. 

Christopher  Thomas,  a  young  preacher,  with  sev- 
eral others,  spent  the  night  at  a  house  not  far  from 
Lynchburg,  and  as  conference  was  to  convene  at  9 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  an  early  start  was  made. 
As  the  preachers  rode  along,  two  and  tAvo,  Christo 
pher  Thomas,  usually  very  sprightly  in  conversa- 
tion, seemed  to  be  in  deep  thought  and  not  inclined 
to  talk.  His  brother  preacher  ol)served  this  and 
remarked  upon  it,  when  Thomas  said,  "I  had  a  sin- 
gular dream  last  night,  which  I  was  thinking  over.'^ 
''You  don't  believe  in  dreams,  do  you?"  asked  the 
preacher  companion. 

"Ko,"  said  Thomas,  ''but  my  dreaui  of  last  night 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  83 

seems  to  me  more  like  a  prophecy  than  a  dream. 
It  was  so  pkiin  and  seemed  so  real,  I  feel  like  there 
must  be  something  in  it."  The  dream  was  about 
like  this.     He  said : 

^'I  dreamed  I  saw  and  knew  the  bishop  on  sight ; 
that  the  conference  business  closed  late  one  night, 
but  the  bishop  did  not  read  out  the  appointments, 
I  thought,  until  at  sunrise  the  next  morning.  My 
appointment  was  a  station.  During  the  early  part 
of  the  year  I  had  a  great  revival  on  my  work ;  and 
when  that  ended  I  was  prostrated  with  sickness 
and  died.'' 

The  other  preacher  made  light  of  the  matter,  but 
soon  the  conversation  ended,  for  they  were  riding 
into  Lynchburg. 

They  saw  two  men  walking  the  street,  as  they 
rode  along,  when,  pointing  to  one  of  them,  Thomas 
said :  ^^There  goes  the  bishop !"  ''Have  you  ever 
seen  the  bishop?''  asked  his  companion. 

"Only  in  my  dream,  last  night.  That  is  the  man 
I  saw,"  said  Thomas. 

When  conference  finished  up  its  work  it  was  late 
one  night,  and  the  appointments,  as  Thomas  had 
dreamed,  were  not  read  out  till  next  morning.  All 
the  Virginia  appointments  had  been  filled,  and  yet 
the  name  of  Thomas  had  not  been  called.  Salis- 
bury district,  in  North  Carolina,  was  filled,  and 
finally  the  New  Bern  district  was  reached.  The 
bishop  read:  "New  Bern  district — Moses  Brock, 
presiding  elder;  New  Bern  station,  Christopher 
Tliomas;  Washins^ton  and  Plvmouth,  Lerov  M. 
Lee." 

"Now,"  said  Thomas,  speaking  to  the  preacher  to 
vrhom  he  had  told  his  dream,  "only  two  other 
events  are  to  happen  and  my  dream  will  be  ful- 
filled." 

Thomas  went  to  New  Bern,  and  during  the  sum- 
mer, a  revival  broke    out    which    not    only  swept 


84 

through  the  town,  but  it  went  like  a  tidal  wave 
down  the  Neuse  to  the  seashore,  all  the  country 
being  deluged  by  its  gracious  overflow. 

Thomas  was  taken  sick  with  fever,  but  his 
friends  did  not  think  his  illness  would  be  serious, 
Moses  Brock,  the  elder,  Leroy  M.  Lee  and  other 
preachers  hastened  to  his  bedside,  and  endeavored 
to  make  him  believe  he  would  soon  be  well ;  but  he 
said:  ^^My  work  is  ended;  I  am  simply  waiting 
for  the  Master  to  release  me  from  my  last  earthly 
charge."  He  lingered  for  several  days,  but  the 
end  was  apparent.  Friends  gathered  about  the 
house,  and,  with  bated  breath,  spake  in  whispers, 
when  the  last  struggle  was  going  on.  It  w^as  night, 
and  a  single  candle,  in  the  fire-place,  with  a  screen 
partially  before  that,  w^as  all  the  light  in  the  room. 
Moses  Brock,  Leroy  M.  Lee  and  other  ministers  and 
friends  were  standing  or  sitting  near  the  dying 
man,  when,  all  at  once,  he  exclaimed :  "They  come ! 
They  come!     Behold,  they  come!" 

At  that  moment  the  room  was  filled  with  a  light 
equal  to  the  brightness  of  the  noon-day  sun;  and 
when,  after  a  moment,  it  had  faded  out,  Christo- 
pher Thomas  was  dead — the  angels  had  come  and 
taken  him  home. 

I  may  not  have  given,  in  every  particular,  the 
story  as  it  w^as  written  and  published.  But,  in 
substance,  I  have  written  the  story  as  memory  has 
kept  it.  If  any  member  of  the  Virginia  Confer- 
ence (or  any  one  else)  has  a  copy  of  that  pamphlet, 
they  would  gratify  a  great  many  people  by  having 
the  whole  story  republished. 

Dr.  Bailey  often  spoke  of  the  strange  occurrence, 
and  firmly  believed  that,  in  the  dying  moment, 
while  living  friends  could  hear  his  voice,  he  was 
permitted  to  see  and  to  welcome  the  convoy  which 
heaven  sent  to  bear  his  spirit  home. 

In  these  days  of  materialism,  when  nothing  is  to 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  85 

be  accepted  save  that  wliicli  may  be  seen  and  han- 
dled, such  a  story  as  the  foregoing,  is  at  a  discount; 
but  to  those  who  believe  that  Saul  of  Tarsus  was 
stricken  down  on  the  way  to  Damascus,  and  that  he 
heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  Avhile  a  light,  above 
the  brightness  of  the  noon-day  sun,  shined  about 
him,  there  is  nothing  the  least  impossible  or  im- 
probable about  it. 


CHAPTEII  XIII. 

Danger  of  Moderate  Drinking — Uncle  Bilh/s 
Story — Going  Trough  a  Windoiv. 

I  met  Mr.  J.  W.  Holloway  the  other  day,  who 
stopped  me  to  say  that  he  was  very  near  to  General 
Branch  at  Sharpsburg,  the  day  he  was  killed,  and 
to  tell  me  how  much  he  appreciated  what  I  had 
written  about  his  general.  He  told  me  also  of  an 
incident  that  came  under  his  observation  in  1857, 
when  General  Branch  and  Col.  Lynn  B.  Sanders 
were  canvassing  this  district  for  Congress.  They 
spoke  at  Gunter's  Store,  in  Orange  County,  one 
day,  and  while  speaking  Sanders  occasionally  sip- 
ped some  brandy  and  water,  to  keep  himself  toned 
up  to  his  work,  while  General  Branch  drank  only 
water.  An  old  gentleman  named  Herndon,  now 
eighty  years  old,  who  was  a  Whig,  and  went  to  the 
speaking  that  morning  expecting  to  vote  for  San- 
ders, said,  when  the  speaking  was  over  that  he  would 
not  vote  for  any  man  who  had  to  drink  grog  to  en- 
able him  to  make  a  speech,  but  would  vote  for 
Branch,  who  drank  his  water  straight ;  and  he  did 
it.  The  story  has  a  moral  that  the  young  reader 
will  not  fail  to  see,  I  trust,  which  is :  a  man  is  ab- 
solved from  the  duty  of  supporting  his  own  party 
candidate,  if  that  candidate  disregards  the  opinions 


86  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

and  teachings  of  that  element,  in  society,  which  is 
striving  to  protect  the  weak  against  the  insidious 
assault  of  the  liquor  curse.  Mr.  Herndon  set  an 
example  worthy  of  imitation  and  worthy  also  to  be 
remembered  by  his  descendants,  to  the  latest  gener- 
ation, as  well  as  by  every  reader  of  this  sketch. 
When  he  saw  that  one  man  set  an  example  of  liquor 
drinking,  though  that  man  was  the  party  nominee, 
he  repudiated  him,  and  went  to  the  man,  who,  by 
drinking  only  water,  and  thereby  setting  a  good 
example  to  the  young  men,  was  in  his  estimation 
the  better  one  to  represent  the  people  in  Congress, 
and,  for  that  reason  he  voted  for  him. 

Oh,  how  many  young  men  have  become  drunk- 
ards and  died  horrible  deaths,  because  they  tried  to 
follow  the  example  set  them  by  moderate  drinkers ! 
I  knew  a  man  away  back  in  the  past,  who  took  his 
toddy  three  times  a  day,  and  boasted  of  his  ability 
to  drink  only  that  much  ard  no  more;  and,  so  far 
as  I  ever  knew,  he  never  went  beyond  that  limit.  But 
he  had  three  boys  who  thought  they  could  do  as 
their  father  did — drink  moderately.  For  awhile 
they  did ;  but  they  soon  got  beyond  the  three  drinks 
a  day;  and,  after  a  few  years,  still  following  fa- 
ther's example,  as  they  supposed,  they  were  con- 
firmed drunkards,  spending  the  fortunes  that  came 
to  them  from  their  father's  estate,  at  the  barroom, 
and  in  the  lowest  brothels;  and,  a.  last  they  died 
in  drunkenness  and  poverty.  Who  dare  say  the 
father's  example  did  not  ruin  the  sons?  And  who 
dare  say  that  most  of  the  wrecks  in  society  are  not 
the  legitimate  results  of  the  thoughtless  indiscre- 
tions of  those  to  whom  the  young  people  look  for 
example?  No  man  liveth  to  himself,  and  we  should 
never  lose  sight  of  it. 

These  reflections  lead  one  back  to  the  old-time 
days,  when  the  temperance  movement  was  begin- 
ning to  take  hold  upon  the  public  mind,  and  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  87 

temperance  societies  were  offering  asylums  to  mod- 
erate drinkers  and  drunkards,  and  remind  me  of  a 
story  related  in  old  '^Concord  Division"  of  the 
Sons  of  Temperance,  one  night  by  an  old  gentleman 
whom  I  wi-1  call  ''Uncle  Billy,''  then  an  old  man. 
He  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  a  very  clever  gen- 
tleman, but  he  would  get  on  a  "spree''  sometimes, 
and  not  only  spend  his  money,  but  often  lose  his 
job.  But  I  will  let  him  tell  his  own  story.  The 
lodge  had  gone  through  its  regular  business  and 
the  worthy  patriarch  announced  that  remarks  for 
the  good  of  the  order  would  then  be  heard,  if  any 
brother  had  anything  to  say.  The  audience  cheered 
lustily  when  old  ''Uncle  Billy"  arose,  for  they  kncAV 
something  funny  was  coming,  and  they  were  not 
disappointed. 

"Worthy  Patriarch,  I  don't  get  up  to  make  a 
speech,"  commenced  Uncle  Billy,  "but  just  to  tell 
these  young  people  what  a  fool  I  have  been.  I  was 
born  poor,  and  I've  kept  poor,  not  because  I  have 
not  made  money,  but  because  I  spent  what  I  made 
for  whiskey.  They  tell  me  that  a  fool  and  his 
money  will  part,  and,  as  I  have  got  clear  of  the  most 
I  ever  had  I  must  conclude  I'm  a  fool.  You  all 
needn't  laugh,  for  its  no  laughing  matter  to  an  old 
man,  like  me,  to  feel  that  his  race  is  almost  run  and 
so  much  of  life  has  been  worse  than  wasted.  No 
man  ever  worked  harder  than  I  have,  and  no  man 
was  ever  blessed  with  better  health  than  I  have 
enjoyed;  but,  for  all  that,  I  am  a  poor  man,,  and  I 
know  why.  Drink  has  been  my  besetting  sin,  tha 
one  that  has  kept  my  nose  to  the  grindstone,  and 
made  me  the  failure  that  I  am;  and,  I  want  to  tell 
these  young  men  to  beware  of  dram  drinkers,  who 
meet  in  the  barrooms,  at  night,  to  spin  yarns  and 
have  what  they  call  a  good  time.  The  good  time 
won't  last  long.  I  started  that  way,  and  I  went 
from  bad  to  woi^e,  so  will  anv  other  vouuo-  man 


88  whitaker\s  reminiscences, 

who  is  fool  enough  to  think  that  he  can  associate 
with  drinking  men  and  not  fall  into  their  habits. 

^'No  man  who  drinks  liquor  ought  to  think  about 
getting  married,  for  a  drinking  man  ain't  fit  to  have 
a  wife;  any  woman  is  a  fool  who  Avill  marry  a 
drinking  man,  if  she  knows  that  he  drinks.  Some 
girls  are  silly  enough  to  think  they  can  reform  a 
fellow  after  marriage;  but  it's  a  mistake.  If  a 
fellow  learns  to  love  whiskey  before  he's  married, 
and  drinks  on  the  sly  while  he  is  courting,  he'll  get 
drunk  in  less  than  a  month  after  marriage;  and, 
after  that  he'll  get  drunk  as  often  as  he  pleases, 
wife  or  no  wife.  Yes,  he'll  promise  his  wife  every 
time  he  goes  home  drunk,  with  a  headache  that 
feels  like  his  skull  is  about  to  burst  open,  that  if 
she'll  put  a  mustard-seed  plaster  on  the  back  of  his 
neck,  bathe  his  feet  in  hot  water,  and  give  him  a 
cup  of  coffee,  and  rub  his  head  until  it  gets  easy,  he 
never  will  drink  another  drop  as  long  as  he  lives. 
Yes,  he'll  promise  anything  then,  but,  it  won't  be  a 
month  before  here  he'll  come  again,  worse  off  than 
ever. 

^^I've  made  my  wife  thousands  of  promises,  and 
broken  every  one  of  them.  After  awhile  she  got 
tired  of  my  lies,  and  so,  one  day,  when  I  was  cool 
sober,  she  said:  'Billy,  as  it  will  soon  be  time  in 
course  for  you  to  get  drunk,  I  want  to  tell  you 
right  now,  I  don't  want  you  to  come  about  me  any 
more  when  liquor  has  made  a  fool  of  you.  I  love 
you,  when  you  are  sober,  and  love  to  have  you  at 
home;  but  it  makes  me  miserable  to  have  you  about 
the  house,  before  the  children,  when  you  are  drunk.' 
I  said,  ^Do  you  mean  that?'  ^Yes,  I  do,'  she  said. 
^But  remember,'  she  added,  ^I  don't  drive  you  away 
from  home,  for  I  don't  want  you  to  be  away;  so,  if 
you  get  drunk  again  it  will  be  with  the  understand- 
ing you  are  going  to  leave,  of  your  own  accord.' 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  S^ 

"A  few  days  after  that  conversation  I  announced 
my  determination  to  go  a  fishing,  and  asked  my 
wife  to  give  me  a  basket  of  provisions,  enough  to 
last  two  men  a  day  or  two,  as  I  expected  a  friend 
of  mine  to  go  with  me.  The  provisions  Avere  packed 
in  the  basket  while  I  was  in  the  garden  digging 
bait,  or  pretending  to  be  digging ;  for  that  was  only 
a  ruse.  The  truth  was,  I  was  going  off  to  get 
drunk,  and  had  no  need  of  bait.  I  thought  I  was 
throwing  dust  into  my  wife's  eyes,  but  I  wasn't. 
She  saw  through  the  whole  thing,  while  she  acted 
as  if  she  thought  I  really  was  going  a  fishing. 

"At  length  my  friend  and  I,  after  we  had  gotten 
several  bottles  of  liquor,  started  out  to  Peace's 
mill,  on  Steep  Hill  Creek,  thinking  and  laughing 
over  how  nicely  we  had  fooled  our  wives ;  and  every 
time  we  had  a  hearty  laugh  we'd  take  a  drink,  and 
then  we'd  take  another  drink  to  make  us  have  an- 
other hearty  laugh.  Well,  xve  got  down  to  the  pond 
just  about  the  time  we  were  drunk,  and  then  we 
forgot  all  about  home  and  wives.  We  fished  some, 
and  caught  enough  fish  to  make  our  provisions  hold 
out  as  long  as  our  liquor  lasted.  I  don't  know 
just  how  many  days  that  was.  I  think  it  was  about 
a  week.  We  had  not  become  cool  sober  Avhen  we 
came  back  to  Raleigh ;  but,  it  seemed  to  me  I  never 
did  want  to  see  my  wife  so  badly,  in  all  my  life. 
I  passed  my  house  a  time  or  two  to  see  how  things 
looked,  and  finally  made  up  my  mind  to  go  home, 
anyhow,  be  the  consequence  what  it  might.  Just 
before  reaching  the  house  I  saw  my  w^ife  come  out 
on  the  piazza,  and  she  saw  me  coming.  Thinking 
I'd  be  a  little  funny,  I  pulled  off  my  hat  and  thrcAV 
it  at  her,  trying  the  while  to  look  sober  and  walk 
straight;  but,  no  sooner  did  the  hat  hit  the  floor 
than  she  kicked  it  out,  half  across  the  street.  I 
knew  what  that  meant;  so,  picking  up  my  hat  I 
went  off  and  spent  another  week  fishing.     I  had 


90  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

to  fish  that  time,  for  I  had  no  provisions  to  go  upon. 
At  the  end  of  the  week  I  Avas  so  hungry  and  tired 
of  fishing  I  was  determined  to  go  home,  and  stay 
there,  if  I  had  to  take  a  beating,  which  I  deserved. 
I  walked  around  town,  going  by  home  every  now 
and  then,  until  my  wife  had  gone  to  bed.  Then  I 
went  around  the  back  vray,  crawled  in  at  a  window, 
and  crept  softly  into  my  wife's  room.  There  she 
was  on  the  bed,  but  I  was  afraid  to  say  a  word.  I 
was  so  hungTv  I  could  have  eaten  anything.  There 
was  a  little  light  in  the  fireplace — enough  to  enable 
me  to  find  some  cold  hominy  in  the  cup-board.  As 
noiselessly  as  a  mouse,  I  got  the  long-handled  pan 
and  put  the  hominy  into  it  and  putting  the  pan  on 
the  fire,  I  sat  doAvn  to  let  the  hominy  warm  a  little. 
But,  I  dropped  off  to  sleep,  as  bad  luck  would  have 
it,  and  got  to  dreaming;  in  my  dream  I  thought  I 
was  fishing  and  had  a  good  bite.  I  gave  a  tremen- 
dous jerk,  carrying  the  pan  over  my  head  and 
throwing  all  my  pan  of  hot  hominy  right  into  my 
wife's  face.  She  came  out  of  the  bed  like  a  tornado, 
and  I  Avent  through  the  nearest  window  like  a 
whirlwind,  carrying  the  sash  like  a  yoke,  around 
my  neck,  for  more  than  a  hundred  yards,  before  I 
got  clear  of  it.  You  can  all  laugh,  but  if  you'd 
been  in  my  fix  then  you  would  have  felt  as  badly 
as  I  did.  I  laid  in  a  fence  corner  just  out  of  town 
that  night,  and  as  I  looked  up  at  the  stars,  and 
thought  of  God  who  made  them,  and  all  else,  for 
His  creatures,  and  how  good  He  was  even  to  the 
ungrateful  and  the  sinful,  and  how  unworthy  I 
was,  even  to  look  up  toward  heaven,  I  determined, 
if  I  lived  to  see  the  daylight,  I  would  be  a  better 
man.  Yes,  I  went  home  the  next  day,  made  peace 
with  my  wife,  put  in  the  sash  I  broke  out,  and — '^ 
(here  he  stopped  for  a  moment,  AvliiU^  Avipini?  the 
tears  from  his  eyes)  "and,  thank  God,  I  liave  not 
tasted  liquor  since.     T  am  so  glad  to  be  a  member 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES. 


91 


Danger 


of  Moderate  Drinking.--Uncle  Biliy  going  through  a  window. 


92  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

of  this  temperance  order,  and  I  do  pray  that  none 
of  these  young  men  Avill  ever  bring  the  trouble  into 
their  homes  that  I  brought  into  mine;  nor  waste 
their  time  and  money  as  I  wasted  mine.'' 

I  think  it  was  in  1847  that  I  heard  that  speech, 
but  as  I  go  back  in  my  thoughts  to  that  incident, 
it  seems  as  if  it  were  but  yesterday.  Most  of  the 
faces  I  looked  upon  that  night  are  gone  to  be  seen 
no  more  in  the  flesh.  Yet,  oh,  how  real !  I  see  old 
Uncle  John  Palmer,  Lewis  Peck,  William  Stronach, 
A.  M.  Grorman,  J.  J.  Litchford,  Jas.  Puttick,  Mark 
Williams,  Rev.  Daniel  Culbreth,  Seymour  W. 
Whiting  and  many  others,  who,  fifty  years  ago 
were  laying  the  foundations  of  a  mighty  movement 
that  will,  I  trust,  sweep  the  liquor  traffic,  with  all 
of  its  evils,  from  this  community  before  another 
generation  has  passed. 


CHAPTEPv  XIY. 

^ome  Reflections  Upon  Childhood  —  Imaginary 
Visit  to  Old-Time  Scenes,  Including  the  Old 
Home. 

I  have  never  taken  a  ride  on  the  Mills  railroad, 
although  it  goes  right  out  into  the  country  in  which 
I  was  raised,  passes  through  two  plantations  my 
father  once  owned,  runs  very  close  to  the  old  school 
house  in  which  I  learned  to  spell,  read,  write  and 
cipher;  goes  through  the  old  "goose  nest  field" 
where  I  used  to  plow,  down  near  the  lake  where  I 
used  to  fish,  through  the  low  grounds  in  which  I 
used  to  hunt,  across  jNliddle  Creek  in  whose  waters 
we  boys  used  to  swim,  and  then  runs  on  down  to 
Fuquay  Springs  near  which  I  had  my  first  experi- 
ence as  a  school  teacher,  and  in  the  direction  of 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  93 

where  I  used  to  go  to  eee  my  first  sweetheart.  I 
say  although  and  notwithstanding  all  these  things, 
I  have  never  taken  a  trip  on  the  Mills  road.  I  think 
I  will  before  long,  for  I  very  much  wish  to  see  the 
places  which  were  once  so  dear  to  me,  the  bare 
recollection  of  which  makes  the  blood  course 
through  the  veins  stronger  and  the  pulse  beat 
quicker,  as  I  am  carried  back  to  that  May  day  of 
life  when  all  was  tinged  with  hopes  and  bright  an- 
ticipations. 

I  am  sorry  for  the  child  that  does  not  have  a 
happy  childhood — nothing  to  look  back  upon  with 
pleasure,  when  cares,  anxieties,  disappointments 
and  troubles  come,  as  they  will  to  all,  sooner  or 
later.  If  I  had  but  one  suggestion  to  make  to 
parents,  it  would  be,  make  home  and  child-life 
pleasant  to  your  children;  for  they  Avill  remember 
that  pleasant  home-life  when  the  grass  covers  the 
dust  of  father  and  mother,  and  find  their  sweetest 
pleasure  in  recalling  the  incidents,  and  looking 
with  memory's  eyes  upon  the  scenes  of  that  happy 
period. 

As  I  intimated,  I  taught  my  first  school  not  far 
from  Fuquay  Springs,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Piney 
Grove  church,  and  I  have  the  little  book  in  which 
are  recorded  the  names  of  all  the  scholars  and  the 
time  each  one  came.  I  had  as  scholars  six  Ballen- 
tine's,  four  Holland's,  six  Jones's,  seven  Smith's, 
four  Powell's,  three  Mason's,  a  Baker,  a  Crawley,  a 
Driver,  a  Fuquay,  a  Gower,  a  Johnson,  a  Kennedy, 
a  Lee,  a  Matthews,  an  Oliver,  a  Spencer,  a  Stall- 
ings,  an  Utley,  and  a  Wood;  forty-four  in  all. 
Where  are  all  they?  If  I  were  to  go  out  into  the 
old  neighborhood  and  ask  for  the  parents  of  those 
children,  I  doubt  if  a  single  one  would  be  found. 
And  were  I  to  go  to  the  old  school-house  or  where 
it  used  to  stand,  and  call  the  roll,  how  many  of  the 
Ballentine's,  or  Holland's,  or  Jones's,  or  Mason's,  or 


9J:  ^yHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

Powell's,  or  Smith's,  thirty  all  told,  would  answer? 
And  how  many  of  the  fourteen  others  would  re- 
spond to  the  call? 

A  brother  Smith  hailed  me  on  the  street  the  other 
day  to  ask  me  if  I  were  the  writer  of  the  reminis- 
cences in  the  News  and  Observer^  and  said  he  lived 
in  the  Fuquay  neighborhood,  but  he  did  not  remem- 
ber me  as  a  teacher  there  in  1848.  It  seems  so 
strange  that  people  can't  remember,  when  it  all 
seems  so  plain  and  real  to  me.  But  it  dawns  on 
me  that  1848  was  fifty-fiYe  years  ago,  and  many  of 
these  old  gray-haired  fathers  and  mothers,  I  see 
now,  were  not  born  then,  and,  of  course,  I  must 
excuse  them  for  not  knowing  me,  and  remembering 
the  first  school  I  taught.  For  the  life  of  me  I  can 
not  imagine  how  people  get  ahead  of  me  as  they  do, 
in  growing  old  and  becoming  bald  or  gray-headed. 
I  meet  people  who  are  stoop-shouldered  and  gray 
headed,  and  bear  marks,  otherwise,  of  old  age;  yet, 
when  I  begin  to  talk  to  them  of  the  old  times  they 
don't  seem  to  remember.  They  look  older  than  I 
feel,  and  they  must  be  older  than  they  think  they 
are,  but  they  just  can't  remember  things. 

When  I  go  out  to  Fuquay,  I  hope  to  see  some  of 
my  old-time  friends,  and  talk  over  things  that  are 
remembered  by  us.  James  D.  Ballentine,  Esq.,  was 
one  of  the  smaller  boys  in  my  school.  John  was 
the  eldest  brother  of  the  ^ye  Ballentine  boys,  but 
not  my  oldest  scholar.  David  Crawley  was  about 
thirty  years  old,  I  believe,  while  Chesley  Driver 
and  David  Fuquay  were  over  21,  as  I  now  remem- 
ber. My  school  lasted  05  days,  and  about  half  of 
the  scholars  attended  every  day.  Some  went  only 
five  days.  The  night  before  my  school  would  close 
the  next  day  I  was  informed  by  old  ;Mrs.  Crawley, 
the  grandmother  of  ]Mr.  James  Ballentine,  that  I 
was  to  be  "turned  out"  the  next  morning;  which 
meant,  the  scholars  were  to  2:0  to  the  school  house 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  95 

early  and  barricade  the  door,  and  when  I  came  I 
would  not  be  admitted,  but  must  submit  to  such 
terms  as  would  be  proposed  by  them.  In  case  I 
declined  to  submit  to  their  proposal,  I  was  to  be 
taken  to  the  branch  and  ducked  until  I  did  submit. 
In  the  matter  of  "turning  out''  teachers  there  was 
an  unwritten  law  to  the  effect  that,  if  a  teacher  Avas 
in  his  chair,  he  was  in  authority,  and  he  could  not 
be  molested.  So,  before  day  the  next  morning,  I 
was  at  the  school-house,  and  when  I  heard  the  boys 
coming,  just  as  day  was  breaking,  I  went  in  and 
took  my  seat.  Here  they  came  like  a  whirlwind, 
every  one  talking  and  laughing,  and  all  bent  on, 
and  expecting  to  have  a  whole  sight  of  fun,  besides 
eating  several  pounds  of  candy  and  fruits  and  other 
good  things,  at  my  expense.  It  was  becoming  light 
enough  to  see  men  and  faces,  when  one  of  the  boys 
threw  open  the  door  and  looking  in  beheld  me.  He 
fell  back  as  if  he'd  seen  a  ghost,  exclaiming :  "Boys, 
I'll  be  drat  if  he  ain't  in  there!"  That  announce- 
ment stilled  the  tumult  for  awhile,  the  boys  draw- 
ing off  at  a  safe  distance  to  consult.  I  heard  one 
say,  "You  can't  do  that;  you  dare  not  touch  hinj 
if  he's  in  the  chair,  it  ain't  lawful  to  do  that."  From 
which  I  inferred  a  proposition  had  been  made  to 
bounce  me  anyhow.  A  plan  was  finally  agreed  upon. 
It  was  to  get  up  an  exciting  sham  rabbit  race,  and 
make  that  race  right  up  to  the  school-house,  and 
pretend  that  the  rabbit  had  gone  under  the  house. 
Then  they  were  to  come  in  and  raise  the  floor 
planks,  especially  the  one  my  chair  was  over,  with 
the  excuse  they  wanted  to  get  at  the  rabbit,  and 
when  I  rose  to  move  my  seat  two  of  the  boys  were 
to  seize  me ;  and,  once  out  of  my  seat,  the  situation 
would  be  just  as  they  would  have  it.  But,  I  heard 
enough. to  understand  their  purpose;  so,  I  moved 
my  seat  upon  the  hearth  before  they  came  in  to  tear 
up  the  floor.     As  that  ruse  failed,  the  next  move 


96  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

was  to  build  such  a  fire  that  I  would  be  obliged  to 
move.  That  failed  also,  for  it  was  an  easy  matter 
to  move  my  chair  without  rising,  and  really  I  was 
so  cold  I  could  have  stood  considerable  scorching. 

The  school  hour  finally  arrived,  the  girls  and 
smaller  children  having  come  in,  school  was  opened 
and  everything  went  smoothly  on.  My  breakfast 
was  sent  to  me,  which  I  ate,  while  I  sympathized 
with  the  boys,  who  had  missed  theirs;  but  I  dared 
not  leave  my  seat. 

At  ten  minutes  past  twelve  o'clock  I  made  the 
children  a  speech  and  announced  the  close  of  the 
school,  giving  them  the  evening  as  a  holiday.  The 
boys  said  I  had  beaten  them  in  the  affair  and  they 
had  a  great  mind  to  duck  me  anyhow,  but  it  ended 
up  in  a  game  of  baseball,  and  I  took  leave  of  the 
children,  some  of  whom  I  have  never  since  seen. 
Some  of  them,  perhaps  most  of  them,  are  dead,  and 
I  shall  not  see  them  again  in  this  life. 

I  will  imagine  that  I  am  out  at  Fuquay  and  that 
I  came  by  rail;  have  seen  all  the  people  and  am 
ready  to  return.  As  I  came  by  rail  and  saw  only 
the  fields  and  houses,  it  will  be  more  pleasant  to 
return  through  the  country  and  stop  by  the  way, 
to  see  some  of  the  old-time  people.  A  few  miles 
brings  me  up  to  Isaac  Eowland's,  who  lived  on  the 
top  of  the  hill  south  of  Terrible  Creek.  He  is  not 
here,  for  he  died  many  years  ago,  so  also  did  his 
wife,  but  I  can  see  them  all  the  same,  and  their 
voices  are  just  as  natural  as  they  used  to  be,  as  the 
strangers  there  describe  the  changes  that  have  oc- 
curred in  the  neighborhood  since"  I  used  to  be  so 
familiar  with  it.  I  ask  about  Bennett  Kowland, 
Benjamin  Womack,  Green  Austin,  Almon  Austin, 
Elmond  Eowland,  Austin  Jones,  John  Adams  and 
others,  his  neighbors,  whom  I  used  to  know,  and  the 
answer  is,  "All  gone;  most  of  them  dead."  I  cross 
the  creek  and  come  over  to  the  place  where  I  was 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  97 

born,  and  I  see  no  one  I  know ;  but,  of  a  stranger,  I 
ask,  where  is  the  house  in  which  I  was  reared,  and 
all  the  houses  which  I  knew  so  well  in  boyhood  and 
young  manhood,  and  the  trees  that  once  shaded  the 
yard  and  the  lane,  and  the  fences  I  used  to  climb, 
and  the  answer  is,  ''Gone,  all  gone;  the  Yankees 
burned  the  dwelling,  and  others  coming  in  posses- 
sion of  the  land,  haA^e  cut  down  the  trees,  removed 
the  fences,  and  torn  down  the  barns,  you  used  to 
see,  and  there  is  nothing  left  but  the  well  you  used 
to  draw  water  from." 

I  go  to  the  well,  look  dow^n  upon  its  wall  of  stone, 
draw  a  bucket  of  water  and  drink  to  the  memory  of 
those  days  when  father,  mother,  brothers  and  sis- 
ters were  all  at  home,  and  for  a  moment  I  forget 
reality  and  dream  of  the  past.  But  as  I  turn  to- 
ward where  the  house  once  stood  and  see  nought 
but  brickbats  and  a  few  stones,  the  dream  fades 
away  and  sadness  fills  my  soul  as  I  remember  we 
shall  never  come  back  again  to  the  home  we  loved 
so  well.  Of  that  family,  four  of  us  are  left,  the 
others  have  crossed  the  river.  Soon  we  shall  fol- 
low. I  am  loath  to  leave  the  sacred  spot,  where,  as 
a  child  I  used  to  play,  and  as  a  young  man  I  used 
to  build  castles,  and  from  which  I  used  to  go  out 
to  see  the  world,  and  to  which  I  would  come  back 
again  to  fill  my  place  at  the  table  and  my  seat  at 
the  morning  and  evening  prayers.  But,  somehow, 
I  want  to  see  the  neighbors,  and  I  am  about  to 
start  to  visit  them.  But  the  stranger  at  the  well 
informs  me  that  the  people  I  once  knoAV  are  all 
gone.  The  Crowders,  who  lived  just  beyond  the 
branch,  are  gone;  the  Jones's  a  little  farther  on 
are  gone;  the  Banks's  over  on  the  road  are  gone, 
the  Utleys  who  lived  over  the  hill  almost  in  sight 
are  gone,  the  Avery's  whose  land  joined  ours  are 
gone;  and  all  the  older  members  of  the  McCullers' 
T 


98  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

family  are  gone;  in  short,  he  tells  me  were  I  to  go 
to  the  places  and  the  homes  I  once  knew  so  well,  I 
would  be  a  stranger,  and  so  great  have  been  the 
changes  I  would  not  recognize  the  places  I  once 
knew.  I  turn  my  eyes  again  toward  whece  the  old 
dwelling  stood,  and  beyond  it  to  the  mound  in  the 
garden  where  sleep  the  ashes  of  a  brother  who  died 
nearly  fifty  years  ago ;  and,  for  the  last  time,  sweep- 
ing the  horizon  all  around,  while  memory  calls  up 
every  home  and  family  and  face  that  in  other  years 
made  the  neighborhood  so  nearly  like  a  paradise,  I 
bid  them  all  adieu,  and  turn  m}^  steps  toward  my 
Ealeigh  home. 

I  cross  the  old  Spring  branch,  pass  the  road  lead- 
ing down  to  Simeon  Utley's  mill ;  cross  Mill  branch, 
and  on  the  hill  come  to  where  ^'Old  Trigger  Smith'^ 
lived;  a  short  distance  leads  me  to  the  old  school- 
house,  where  Stinson  Ivey,  Simeon  Williams  and 
others  taught,  fifty  odd  years  ago.  I  must  halt 
here  for  av/hile  and  have  a  game  of  marbles  under 
those  giant  white  oaks,  -neath  which  we  played  in 
the  olden  time — which  oaks,  tradition  said^  old  Col. 
McCullers,  of  Revolutionary  days,  topped  with  a 
pen-knife.  School  is  out,  and  here  come  the  boys 
and  girls  and  what  a  happy  period  will  our  play- 
time be!  We  are  children  and  don^t  know  what 
care  means,  so,  no  one  can  blame  us  for  having  our 
fun.  *  -=^  *  The  play-time  hour  ends,  the  teacher 
rings  the  bell  for  ^'books,'^  and  here  the  children  go, 
as  if  racing,  to  their  evening  tasks. 

A  little  further  on  I  pass  the  place  where  the 
]\rcCullers's  lived — where  Miss  Harriet  taught  when 
I  was  a  little  boy,  and  made  my  first  little  speech. 
But  it's  so  changed!  I  don't  see  any  of  the  faces 
I  knew,  and  no  one  seems  to  know  me.  The  next 
place  I  come  to  is  the  residence  of  David  Stephen- 
son. Other  settlements  have  been  made,  but  I  am 
in  the  olden  time.     I  don't  know  who  owns  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  99 

Stephenson  place;  but  it  used  to  be  a  home  of  wealth 
and  hospitality,  and  two  sons,  Matthew  and  Col. 
L.  D.  Stephenson,  Avere  the  only  children.  Mat- 
thew never  married.  ''Lon,"  as  he  was  called,  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Mitchener.  He  and  his  wife  are  dead, 
but  some  of  their  children  are  still  living. 

Between  Swift  and  Steep  Hill  creeks  I  pass  Au- 
gustine Turner's  residence,  but,  I  hardly  know  the 
place,  and  as  I  see  no  one,  1  pass  on.  On  the  hill 
this  side  of  Steep  Hill  Greek  I  am  at  the  old  home 
again,  for  it  Avas  here  my  father  and  family  lived 
just  before,  during,  and  after  the  war.  Over  the 
hill,  to  the  southeast,  is  the  little  home  I  built, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  Avar,  and  where  I  lived 
during  the  Avar.  And  not  far  off  is  the  old  grave- 
yard where  most  of  the  fathers  of  the  Whitaker 
family  sleep.  Father  and  mother  are  there ;  mother 
dying  in  1866,  father  in  1877. 

On  my  Avay  to  Kaleigh  I  pass  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Harry  Parker ;  but  he  is  gone,  and  his  son  Han- 
nibal, a  boy  when  I  Avas  a  young  man,  died  recently, 
and  so  I  am  a  stranger  at  this  gate.  I  pass  also  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Lawrence  Hinton,  but  see  no  one 
I  know;  nor  do  I  find  at  the  homes,  from  here  to 
Kaleigh,  any  that  I  used  to  know. 

The  reader  will  pardon  me  for  this  old-time  trip 
out  into  the  country.  It  was  an  imaginary  one, 
but  very  real,  all  the  same.  When  I  take  that  ride 
on  the  Mills  road,  I  may  write  another  chapter,  in 
which  I  can  then  describe  things  as  they  are  to- 
day, and  I  have  no  doubt  but  I  will  be  forced  to 
admit  that  changes  haA'^e  been  improvements,  and, 
dear  to  me  as  the  old-time  memories  are,  I  will  find 
more  and  better  things  than  the  old  times  could 
afford,  but  no  more  real  happiness;  not  half  the 
independence;  for,  in  the  olden  times  we  made 
what  we  lived  upon,  at  home,  and  always  had 
plenty.     True,  we  did  not  have  biscuits  all  the  time, 


100  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

but  they  were  better  when  they  did  come,  and  that 
made  up  for  the  skips.  We  had  plenty  of  corn, 
pork,  chickens,  turkeys,  eggs,  peas,  potatoes,  pump- 
kins, turnips  and  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  all  raised 
at  home ;  and  it  was  a  sort  of  disgrace  for  a  farmer 
to  have  to  buy  meat.  I  learned  that  when  I  was 
a  very  small  boy;  the  cholera  killed  my  father's 
hogs  in  the  fall,  and  he  did  not  have  enough  to  go 
through  to  beef-killing  time,  so  he  bought  a  side  of 
bacon  someAvhere  and  brought  it  home  after  dark, 
and  tried  to  get  it  into  the  smoke-house  without  its 
being  seen  by  us  children  or  the  servants,  but  I 
happened  to  see  the  smuggling  in  process  and  moth- 
er called  me  into  her  room  and  explained  to  me 
how  it  happened  that  father  had  to  buy  meat,  say- 
ing that  people  would  talk  about  it  and  think  less 
of  us  if  they  were  to  hear  of  it,  and  told  me  in  a 
threatening  tone  of  voice  she  would  whip  me  if  I 
ever  breathed  it  to  a  single  mortal.  I  could  hardly 
sleep  that  night,  thinking  of  the  disgrace  which  had 
come  to  our  family — ^'liad  to  buy  meatr  Yes,  we 
made  all  we  used,  and  wore  home-made  shoes,  of 
leather  tanned  at  home,  so  that  we  were  emphati- 
cally independent,  and  did  not  have  to  lie  awake 
at  night,  thinking  about  trusts,  or  of  the  accounts 
against  us  for  supplies,  already  consumed,  and  of 
how  to  get  more. 


INCIDENTS  AND   ANECDOTES.  101 


CHAPTER  XV. 

'%'rap  Lien^' — Golden  Rule — pennon  on  the  Aloimt 
— Nat.  Thomas — A  Good  Old  Gentleman — 
Wiley  Holmes. 

The  ''crap  lien/'  as  it  was  called,  began  its  career 
soon  after  the  war,  but  has  grown  to  very  large 
proportions.  Of  course  it  was  a  great  convenience 
to  be  able  to  go  to  a  store  and  buy  what  one  wanted, 
or  to  send  a  servant  with  an  order  to  have  the  thing 
charged.  The  result,  however,  was  that  wants  in- 
creased, and  a  great  deal  was  bought  that  was  not 
really  needed. 

I  remember  reading  a  story  about  like  this.  One 
neighbor  said  to  another,  in  a  sort  of  boastful  way : 
^^I  have  made  arrangements,  with  a  merchant,  by 
which  I  can  get  whatever  I  need  on  my  farm,  all 
through  the  year,  without  paying  any  cash.''  ''How 
did  you  do  that?"  asked  the  other  neighbor.  "Why, 
I  just  gave  him  a  'crap  lien,' "  answered  the  first 
neighbor.  "What  is  a  crap  lien?"  asked  neighbor 
number  two.  "O,  it's  nothing  but  a  promise  to 
pay,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  when  the  crop  is  gath- 
ered," said  neighbor  number  one.  "I  believe,"  said 
neighbor  number  two,  "I  had  rather  pay  the  cash, 
for  what  I  am  obliged  to  have,  and  do  without  what 
I  can't  pay  the  cash  for,"  said  neighbor  number 
two.  "O,  you  are  an  old  fogy,"  retorted  neighbor 
number  one.  "My  mouto  is,  while  we  live  let  us 
live."  "That's  my  motto,  too,"  said  neighbor  num- 
ber two;  "and  while  I  am  living  I  had  rather  keep 
out  of  debt.  That  'crap  lien,'  you  tell  me  about, 
may  be  a  dangerous  thing  after  all,  instead  of  a 
blessing.  At  any  rate,  I  wish  you  would  let  me 
know  at  the  end  of  the  year  how  it  worked." 

As  a  matter  of  course,  neighbor  number  one,  who 


102  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

had  given  the  crop  lien,  traded  extensively — and  so 
did  the  family — they  got  such  things  as  they  sever- 
ally wanted,  all  the  time  feeling  highly  elated  over 
the  fact  that  they  had  such  good  credit. 

At  the  winding  up  of  the  year  the  crap  lien  be- 
gan to  draw,  and  it  kept  on  drawing.  It  drew  all 
the  cotton  and  the  corn,  the  wheat  and  the  oats,  the 
shucks,  the  hay  and  the  fodder,  the  horses  and  the 
mules,  the  cows,  the  hogs  and  the  poultry,  the  farm 
utensils  and  the  wagons,  the  carriage  and  the  bug- 
gy; and,  not  being  satisfied  with  its  drawing  out- 
side, it  drew  the  household  and  kitchen  furniture, 
and  as  neighbor  number  one,  in  sadness  explained 
to  neighbor  number  two,  it  didn't  quit  drawing 
until  it  got  the  table,  the  plates  and  the  dishes,  the 
cups  and  the  saucers,  the  knives  and  the  forks,  and, 
when  it  had  gotten  everything  else,  it  reached  for 
the  dish  rag,  and  wiped  up  the  whole  concern,  not 
leaving  even  a  grease  spot. 

I  think  they  must  be  using  that  same  old  "crap 
lien"  yet;  for  very  often  I  see  an  auction  going  on 
in  front  of  a  store,  and  I  notice  that  the  horses, 
mules,  wagons,  buggies,  plows,  hoes  and  rakes, 
baskets  and  buckets,  and  every  old  thing,  is  put  up 
for  sale.  Some  people  don't  seem  to  care;  but  it 
does  seem  to  me  it's  paying  too  dear  for  the  whistle 
to  give  "crap  lien"  prices  for  things  which  might 
be  made  at  home,  and  then  have  to  give  up  what 
has  been  made,  at  the  end  of  the  year.  But,  that 
will  continue  to  be  so,  as  long  as  farmers  buy  their 
meat  in  Chicago,  their  hay  in  Kentucky,  and  their 
corn  and  wheat  from  the  Northwest  and  depend 
solely  on  cotton  or  tobacco  to  foot  all  the  bills.  A 
people  who  run  in  debt  for  meat  and  bread  all  the 
year  can't  expect  to  have  much  in  the  fall. 

I  wonder,  sometimes,  when  I  read  of  the  dealings 
of  men  with  men — how  the  better-informed  take 
the  advantage  of  the  ignorant,  and  how  the  rich 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  103 

take  the  advantage  of  the  poor;  1  say,  I  Avonder,  if 
they  have  ever  read  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or 
have  ever  read  the  golden  rule,  which  Jesus  said, 
was  the  ''law  and  the  prophets." 

''Man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  thou- 
sands mourn,"  is  as  true  as  it  was  when  the  poet 
penned  the  lines,  and  it's  as  disgraceful  as  well. 

It  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  man  to  say  that  he 
is  the  author  of  his  own  misfortunes  and  the  pro- 
moter of  all  the  evils  that  aftlict  the  race.  Take, 
for  example,  the  liquor  traffic.  What  greater  mis- 
fortune than  the  manufacture,  sale  and  use  of  alco- 
holic liquors,  as  a  beverage,  could  have  befallen 
this  earth?  Alcohol  sold  by  the  consent  of  men  is 
killing  men;  and  yet,  for  the  sake  of  money,  men 
go  on  murdering  each  other,  and  each  other's  chil- 
dren. 

If  I  were  to  go  into  a  man's  yard  and  dig  a  pit, 
and  leave  it  open,  for  his  little  children  to  fall  into, 
and  be  killed,  I  would  be  a  murderer,  and  the  law 
would  punish  me.  But,  I  can  set  up  a  place  for  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  alcohol,  that  will  not  only 
destroy  the  lives  of  people,  but  in  addition,  send 
their  ruined  souls  to  eternal  death,  and  the  law 
will  protect  me  in  my  murderous  business,  and 
public  sentiment  will  sustain  the  law.  That's  true 
in  almost  every  land,  even  where  men  claim  to  be 
the  disciples  of  the  immaculate  Son  of  God. 

In  the  matter  of  bread  and  meat,  our  land  is 
cursed  with  a  monopolistic  spirit  that  doubles  the 
prices  of  many  things,  thereby  making  it  doubly 
hard  for  the  poor  to  keep  the  wolf  of  hunger  and 
starsT.tion  from  enterinp;  their  doors  and  devouring 
their  wives  and  children. 

If  men  would  but  learn,  and  then  live  the  golden 
rule,  all  the  hard  problems  of  life  would  be  solved, 
and  we'd  have  a  heaven,  even  on  this  earth,  very 


104  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

much  like  that  to  which  we  hope  to  go  when  the 
dark  river  is  crossed. 

That  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  the  Christian's 
platform,  and  unless  he  stands  on  it  flat-footed, 
and  does  the  things  therein  enjoined,  the  Saviour 
says  He  will  not  know  him  in  the  judgment.  Fear- 
ful thought  I 

How  simple  that  sermon,  and  yet  what  great 
things  taught!  It  was  the  Son  of  God  preaching, 
and,  unlike  too  many  preachers  of  these  days,  he 
tried  to  make  no  display,  but  delivered  the  heaven- 
sent message  in  the  iDlainest,  simplest  style.  Of 
course  we  want  fine  preaching  in  these  days,  be- 
cause we  have  itching  ears;  but,  the  most  effectual 
preaching  is  the  simple  story  of  the  gospel,  as 
Peter,  Stephen  and  Paul  told  it.  Educated  people 
want  educated  ministers,  and  the  educated  minis- 
ters feel  that  they  are  expected  to  show  off  their 
learning;  even  if  they  have  to  discuss  the  sciences 
and  the  events  of  the  day.  By-the-way,  a  story  will 
illustrate  a  point,  and  point  a  moral  at  the  same 
time. 

It  is  said  that  the  pastor  of  the  Methodist  church, 
in  Lexington,  Ya.,  years  ago,  was  thinking  of  com- 
mencing a  protracted  meeting  in  his  church,  and 
invited  the  celebrated  Nat.  Thomas,  a  man  of  ordi- 
nary abilit}^,  but  a  good  x)ractical  preacher,  to  assist 
him,  but  told  him  he  must  be  careful  how  he 
preached,  as  the  Lexington  people  were  very  highly 
cultured;  and,  besides,  there  were  two  colleges  in 
the  tow^n.  Thomas,  who  was  a  country  circuit 
rider,  and  paid  but  little  attention  to  dress,  gram- 
mar or  rhetoric,  promised  the  Lexington  divine 
that  he  would  do  the  best  he  could  and  behave  as 
well  as  he  knew  how.  The  evening  came  for  the 
opening  of  the  meeting  and  a  great  crowd  filled  the 
church.  Thomas  had  not  arrived  when  the  first 
hymn  was  sung;  but  just  as  it  was  finished  and  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  105 

people  were  wonderiug  what  the  pastor  was  wait- 
ing for,  in  he  came,  just  as  he  had  come  ott'  his  cir- 
cuit, rough  and  dusty;  and,  walking  rapidly,  he 
entered  the  pulpit,  and,  without  speaking  to  the 
pastor,  dropped  on  his  knees  and  prayed.  The  peo- 
ple seemed  to  be  amazed;  but  when  he  arose  and 
announced  a  hymn  they  were  shocked  at  the  idea  of 
having  to  listen  to  such  an  ordinary  looking  preach- 
er. After  the  hymn,  he  prayed  a  short  but  very 
earnest  prayer.  A\  hile  the  congregation  was  sing- 
ing another  hymn,  the  pastor  again  reminded  him 
what  a  cultured  audience  he  was  about  to  stand 
before,  and  begged  him  to  be  very  particular  as  to 
what  he  said,  and  how  he  said  it.  When  Thomas 
arose  he  stood  looking  as  if  he  did  not  know  what 
to  say.  He  tip-toed  and  looked;  squatted  down 
and  looked;  put  on  his  spectacles  and  looked; 
looked  in  both  amen  corners,  on  each  side  of  the 
aisle,  up  in  the  gallery,  out  in  the  vestibule,  and 
kept  on  looking  until  everybody  in  the  house 
seemed  to  be  almost  crazy  to  know  what  the  block- 
head was  looking  at.  All  which  time  the  pastor 
was  in  agony,  for  he  knew  there  was  a  meaning  in 
Thomas'  drollery. 

At  length,  after  he  had  seemingly  satisfied  him- 
self, he  said,  in  his  drollest  manner :  "Brother  K. 
told  me  I  must  be  mighty  particular  here ;  that  you 
all  are  mighty  stuck-up  sort  of  folks;  but,  after 
looking  at  you  all  the  best  I  can,  I've  come  to  the 
conclusion  THAT  I'VE  PREACHED  TO  JUST 
SUCH  CATTLE  AS  YOU  AKE  A  THOUSAND 
TIMES." 

The  pastor  thought  he  had  ruined  everything  and 
tried  to  hide  himself  from  the  audience  behind  the 
preacher.  Without  opening  the  Bible,  Thomas  an- 
nounced his  text:  "Except  ye  repent  ye  shall  all 
likewise  perish,"  and  just  waded  right  in  after  the 
manner  of  old  Stephen,  giving  it  to  both  church 


106  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

members  and  sinners,  as  he  went  on.  Soon,  what 
little  merriment  there  was  in  the  beginning,  sub- 
sided and  every  eye  was  fixed  intently  upon  the 
preacher,  and  the  pastor  who  had  been  trying  to 
hide,  began  to  show  himself,  and  soon  heads  began 
to  droop,  and  handkerchiefs  were  seen  wiping  tears 
from  eyes;  and  then  sobs  were  heard  in  various 
portions  of  the  church !  and  when  the  preacher  ex- 
tended an  invitation  to  penitent  sinners  to  come 
to  the  altar,  for  prayer,  it  looked  like  the  whole 
house  was  coming.  They  had  a  great  meeting,  and 
all  because  Nat.  Thomas,  by  his  drollery,  took  the 
starch  out  of  the  pastor  and  the  congregation,  and 
then  preached  a  plain,  simple,  yet  earnest  gospel 
sermon. 

Wiley  Holmes,  at  Louisburg,  tells  a  good  story 
that  is  in  point,  right  here.  He  says  he  was  walk- 
ing to  church  one  day  when  a  young  man  and  an 
old  man,  riding  on  horseback,  overtook  him,  saying 
as  he  rode  up:  "Going  to  preaching,  I  suppose?" 
"Yes,  sir,''  answered  Wiley.  "That's  right,  my  son ; 
and  we  are  going  to  have  a  good  meeting  to-day, 
my  son — I  feel  just  like  it.  I  am  going  soon  and 
we'll  have  a  meeting  before  the  preacher  gets  there. 
I  am  going  to  talk  some  myself.  These  preachers 
preach  well  enough,  such  preaching  as  they  do,  but 
they  don't  tell  us  anything,  Wiley.  They  take  a 
little  text  about  half  as  long  as  my  finger,  and  they 
spin  it  out,  and  spin  it  out,  and  spin  it  out,  until 
there's  nothing  in  it,  and  you  can't  get  anything  out 
of  it.  Ain't  that  so,  Wiley?"  "I  reckon  it  is,"^  said 
Wiley.  "I  know  it's  so;  and  I'm  going  out  there 
to-day  to  tell,  before  the  preachers  get  there,  what 
ouglit  to  be  done  and  how  to  do  it." 

When  they  arrived  at  the  church,  Wiley  said  he 
went  to  the  spring,  and  coming  on  back  he  saw  the 
old  man  down  by  the  trunk  of  a  tree  just  talking 
to  the  Lord,  asking  Him  to  send  the  Holy  Spirit 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  107 

on  the  meeting  that  day.  Pretty  soon  he  came  on 
toward  the  church,  saying,  as  he  entered:  ^'Come 
in  friends;  we  can't  do  a  day's  w^ork  commencing 
at  11  o'clock.  We'll  go  in  and  have  a  little  meeting 
before  the  preachers  get  here." 

They  went  in,  and  the  old  man  commenced  talk- 
ing, and  the  people  kept  coming.  By  11  o'clock  the 
house  w^as  full,  and  the  old  man  was  still  talking. 
Just  then  in  came  the  preachers,  walking  briskly; 
and  after  kneeling  and  praying  a  very  short  prayer, 
the  preacher  in  charge  rose,  looked  at  the  old  man 
who  was  talking,  then  looked  at  his  watch,  and 
whispered  to  the  other  preacher.  The  other 
preacher  found  a  hymn,  and  looked  at  the  preacher 
in  charge,  who  nodded  his  head,  as  much  as  to  say, 
yes,  sing  on.  The  other  preacher  licked  out  his 
tongue  to  wet  his  lips,  but  the  old  man,  by  that 
time,  was  warming  up  to  his  work,  and  so  he  didn't 
start  his  song,  that  time.  The  preacher  in  charge 
looked  at  his  w^atch  again,  and  again  nodded  to  the 
other  preacher,  who  commenced  wetting  his  lips 
again;  but  before  he  could  get  a  tune  to  fit  the 
hymn,  somebody  in  the  congregation  began  to  shout, 
and  that  gave  new  impetus  to  the  old  man;  where- 
upon the  two  preachers,  in  the  pulpit,  fell  back  in 
dismay,  and  submitted  to  the  inevitable.  The  old 
man  did  all  the  preaching  that  day,  and  they  had  a 
great  meeting  there. 

Going  on  home,  the  old  man  overtook  Wiley  and 
said :  "I  told  you,  Wiley,  we  were  going  to  have 
a  good  meeting  to-day.  I  just  felt  it  this  morning. 
Yes,  Wiley,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  down  on  us." 
"That  was  because  you  w^ere  talking,  I  reckon," 
Wiley  answered.  "I  couldn't  help  it,  son ;  the  Holy 
Ghost  made  me  talk.  I  knowed  I  was  worrying 
them  preachers ;  I  cut  my  eye  at  them  and  saw  how 
restless  they  were ;  but  I  had  the  floor,  and  I  was 
determined  to  tell  it  all." 


108 

Many  a  meeting  has  been  ruined  by  big  sermons 
— the  preacher  tr^dng  to  make  a  reputation  as  a  big 
preacher,  instead  of  trying  to  reach  the  hearts  of 
the  people  with  plain,  old-fashioned  Holv  Ghost 
talks. 

Paul  said  to  the  Corinthians:  ^^My  speech  and 
my  preaching  was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of 
power.  That  your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the 
wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God." 

By  which  he  means  to  say,  he  could  have  used 
enticing  words  and  rhetorical  sentences,  and  capti- 
vated those  who  had  itching  ears ;  and  made  a  great 
reputation  for  himself;  but,  that  their  faith  might 
stand  in  the  power  of  God,  and  not  in  the  wisdom 
of  men,  he  spake  simiDle  words  in  demonstration 
of  the  Spirit  and  of  power.  Paul  made  a  big  repu- 
tation as  a  preacher  by  not  trying  to  preach  big 
sermons. 

The  reader  understands,  I  hope,  that  I  favor  an 
educated  ministry,  for  the  reason  that  well  edu- 
cated men  are  less  apt  to  put  on  airs.  The  better 
a  man  is  educated  the  more  he  ought  to  know  of 
human  nature,  and  the  more  one  knows  of  human 
nature,  the  more  successful  he  can  be  in  persuad- 
ing men  to  become  Christians.  A  five-talent  man 
is,  of  course,  able  to  do  five  times  as  much  as  a  one- 
talent  man.  But  will  he?  Does  he?  Where  is 
the  man  who  does  the  best  he  can  in  his  sphere: 
with  his  environments,  his  infirmities,  his  tempta- 
tions does  all  that  God  expects  of  him?  The  Psalm- 
ipt  says :  "  He  knoweth  our  frame ;  He  remem- 
bereth  that  we  are  dust."  And  how  comforting  the 
statement  that  He  pities  us  as  an  earthly  father 
pities  his  children. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  109 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

^^Aunt  Abby  Hous&^ — A  Once  Turbulent  Woman 
WJiose  Life  Closed  in  Peace. 

"Aunt  Abby  House''  is  remembered  by  many,  and 
what  she  did  and  said,  especially  in  the  last  years 
of  her  life,  are  so  closely  connected  with  the  history 
of  the  war  and  the  days  of  reconstruction,  she  de- 
serves a  full  chapter,  if  not  more,  in  these  reminis- 
cences. I  rode  by  the  little  cottage  a  few  days  ago 
in  which  she  spent  the  last  days  of  her  life.  It 
stands  beside  a  ditch  near  the  old  Fair  Ground, 
and  was  built  at  the  expense  of  a  few  Confederate 
soldiers  who  appreciated  her  kindness  to  them  dur- 
ing the  war,  when  sLa,  with  the  bravery  of  a  Moll 
Pitcher  and  the  tenderness  of  a  Florence  Nightin- 
gale, served  in  the  double  capacity  of  soldier  and 
nurse,  doing  deeds  worthy  of  places  in  story  and 
song.  At  that  time  she  was  a  wicked  woman,  but 
she  afterwards  became  a  Christian,  and  in  her  last 
days  gave  evidences  of  that  change  which  can  be 
effected  only  by  the  gospel,  which  is  the  power  of 
God  unto  salvation;  for  she  forgave  her  bitterest 
enemies,  and  died  in  the  assurance  of  an  immortal 
life. 

To  the  reader  whose  memory  goes  back  thirty- 
five  years,  "Aunt  Abby  House"  needs  no  introduc- 
tion ;  but,  there  are  so  many,  especially  among  your 
numerous  female  readers,  who  can  not  remember 
that  long,  and,  perhaps,  never  heard  of  "Aunt 
Abby,''  I  take  it  for  granted  that  a  few  incidents 
connected  with  her  very  extraordinary  life — her 
sayings  and  doings — will  be  interesting  to  them,  as 
I  am  sure  they  will  be  to  those  who  knew  her  in 
the  flesh. 

"Aunt  Abby  House"  was  a  native  of  Franklin 


110  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

County,  born  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, according  to  her  statement,  being,  as  she  once 
told  me,  "a  right  smart  gal,  enduring  of  the  time 
of  the  war  of  1812;  big  enough  to  have  a  sweet- 
heart." That  sweetheart,  she  said,  went  to  the 
war,  and  the  news  came  to  her  that  he  was  sick  at 
Norfolk,  Va.,  and,  she  said,  she  walked  every  step 
of  the  way  from  Franklin  County  to  Norfolk  to  see 
him,  arriving  there  the  day  after  he  was  buried. 
^^O,  yes,"  said  she,  ^'I  was  a  right  smart  gal  endur- 
ing of  that  war;  but,  I  can't  tell  you  exactly  how 
old  I  am  noAv."  The  conversation  in  which  she 
gave  me  this  information  occurred  in  1877. 

I  have  heard  that  in  her  early  days,  and,  indeed, 
through  most  of  her  life,  she  was  a  turbulent  wo- 
man; fond  of  contentions  and  law-suits,  and  that 
she  was  able  to  stand  her  ground  in  the  court-house, 
on  the  court-house  grounds,  or  anywhere  else,  and 
that  no  man  could  beat  her  swearing,  when  things 
did  not  go  to  suit  her.  Indeed,  she  had  not  stopped 
the  swearing  habit  when  I  first  knew  her,  when  she 
was  quite  old. 

I  knew  but  little  of  her  before  the  war ;  but,  dur- 
ing the  war  she  began  a  career  that  brought  her 
before  the  public ;  and,  until  she  died  in  1881,  there 
Avere  few  women  in  North  Carolina  better  known. 

The  first  time  I  remember  seeing  her  after  the 
war,  was  at  Franklinton,  at  a  district  conference. 
Some  one  was  preaching,  and  in  the  midst  of  his 
discourse  he  bore  down  pretty  hard  on  certain  sins, 
especially  that  worst  of  all  sins,  taking  the  name 
of  God  in  vain,  showing  how  worse  than  foolish 
was  the  habit  some  people  had  of  cursing  at  every- 
thing; even  some  women,  so  far  forgetting  their  sex 
sometimes  as  to  use  bad  language. 

About  that  time  "Aunt  Abby,"  with  a  cane  in 
each  hand,  bounced  up  and  went  toward  the  door, 
about  half  bent,  making  as  much  noise  with  her 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  Ill 

feet  and  two  canes  as  a  horse  could  have  done. 
She  halted  just  outside  the  door  until  the  services 
closed,  and  as  the  congregation  passed  her,  she  was 
giving  the  preacher  fits,  and  fully  demonstrating 
the  fact  that  cursing  was  no  new  thing  to  her. 
That  was  in  1867  or  '68.  From  that  time  I  saw 
her  frequently  and  began  to  be  on  speaking  terms 
with  her,  as  I  frequently  saw  her  on  the  train.  She 
never  bought  a  ticket,  and  the  conductor  rarely 
ever  got  any  fare  from  her.  If  she  had  a  quarter, 
she'd  give  the  conductor  that,  and  if  he  hesitated 
as  if  that  were  not  enough,  she  would  threaten  to 
hit  him  with  her  stick,  and  he  would  move  on. 

On  one  occasion  I  heard  her  ask  General  Kan- 
som  for  half  a  dollar,  at  the  depot,  just  before  the 
train  left.  The  General,  in  a  sort  of  teasing  way, 
said :  '^Aunt  Abby,  I  don't  think  I  have  half  a  dol- 
lar." She  stepped  back  and  looking  him  full  in  the 
face  she  said:  "Matt  Eansom,  you  know  that's  a 
lie;  and  I'm  going  to  tell  your  wife  about  it  the 
first  time  I  see  her."  The  General  ran  his  fingers 
into  his  vest  pocket  and  pulled  out  a  dollar  and 
gave  it  to  her,  saying,  "That's  the  nearest  I  can 
come  to  it.  Aunt  Abby.  Will  that  do  for  you?" 
She  held  it  in  her  hand  a  second,  dropping  her  head 
as  if  in  deep  thought,  and  said,  "No,  that  won't  do. 
I'll  get  it  changed."  "No,"  said  the  General,  "you 
may  need  the  other  half  sometime.  Keep  it."  She 
replied,  "Matt  Ransom,  I  always  did  say  it,  you 
are  a  gentleman,  every  inch  of  you,"  and  the  last  I 
saw  of  her  she  was  crawling  into  the  car. 

Aunt  Abby's  war  record  will  soon  be  forgotten, 
as  the  brave  men  who  wore  the  gray  are  falling  ou(: 
of  ranks  every  day,  and  there  will  be,  very  soon, 
none  left  to  tell  how  faithfully  she  ministered,  in 
her  rough  way,  to  the  sick  and  wounded  men  on 
the  Virginia  hills.  I  heard  it  said  of  her  that  she 
was  present  at  several  battles,  and  that  she  was  as 


112  ^yHITAKER'S    IIEMI^'ISCENCES, 

cool  and  self-possessed  as  any  veteran,  and  that,  on 
one  occasion,  while  the  fight  was  going  on,  she  was 
seen,  in  a  very  exposed  place,  holding  a  horse. 
Some  one  said:  ''Old  woman,  you'd  better  get  out 
of  here  before  one  of  those  shells  tears  you  all  to 

pieces/'     ''I  ain't  gwine  a  step.  I  told  Colonel 

I'd  hold  his  horse  till  he  came  back  out  of  the  light, 
and  I'll  do  it,  shells  or  no  shells."  While  that  may 
not  have  been  literally  true,  it  would  not  be  saying 
too  much  of  her,  that  she  would  have  done  just 
such  a  daring  thing  if  occasion  had  offered. 

Everybody  heard  during  the  war  how  anxious 
Aunt  Abb}'  Avas  about  her  nephew  who  was  in  the 
army,  and  how  she  importuned  Governor  Vance 
to  help  her  get  that  nephew  out.  She  was  a  con- 
stant visitor  at  the  Governor's  office,  and  he  treated 
her  so  nicely,  that  she  became  a  life-long  admirer 
of  him.  Governor  Vance,  at  her  earnest  solicita- 
tion, did  secure  a  furlough  for  her  nephew^,  upon 
the  condition  that  she  would  be  sure  to  send  him 
back  to  the  army  when  the  furlough  expired.  But 
she  did  not  do  it.  One  snowy  day  she  walked  into 
the  Governor's  office,  stamped  the  snow  off  her 
shoes,  and  sat  down  by  the  fire,  seeming  to  be  in 
a  deep  study.  All  at  once  she  turned  to  Governor 
Vance  and  said:  "Zeb,  that  boy  can't  go  back  to 
the  army,  he's  got  the  consumption  right  now,  and 
he'll  die  in  less  than  a  week  if  he  goes  back." 

"Ain't  that  boy  gone  back  yet?"  asked  the  Gov- 
ernor, in  astonishment. 

"No,  he  ain't,  and  he  can't  go,  for  I  tell  you  he's 
got  the  consumption." 

The  Governor  put  on  a  grave  face  and  said: 
"That  will  never  do.  I  gave  General  Lee  my  pledge 
of  honor  that  if  he  would  give  Marcellus  a  furlough 
he  should  certainly  go  back  when  the  time  was  out, 
and  you  promised  me  that  you  would  send  him 
back;  and  here  it  is  a  month  over  time  and  he  not 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  113 

gone.  That  will  never  do,  Aunt  Abby.  General 
Lee  Avill  never  have  any  more  confidence  in  my 
word.     Marcellus  must  go  right  back." 

''Well,  Zeb,  won't  you  write  a  letter  to  old  Bob 
and  tell  him  how  it  is?" 

''Go  bring  Marcellus  here  and  let  me  see  him, 
and  if  I  think  his  case  is  as  bad  as  you  say  it  is,  1 
will  w^rite  a  letter." 

In  a  few  days  Aunt  Abby  brought  Marcellus  in, 
and  just  as  he  expected,  there  were  no  signs  of  con- 
sumption, but  a  very  well-looking  man  stood  before 
him.  The  Governor  wrote  a  letter  to  General  Lee 
which  sounded  all  right  to  Aunt  Abby,  but,  w^hen 
read  between  the  lines,  meant  that  the  young  man's 
complaint  w^as  largely  imaginary,  and  was  super- 
induced, doubtless,  by  his  abhorrence  of  hardtack 
and  gunpowder ;  in  other  words,  that  Marcellus  was 
fit  for  duty.  As  the  Governor  handed  her  the  let- 
ter, he  said :  "Now,  Aunt  Abby,  take  this  to  Gen- 
eral Lee  and  let  me  know  what  he  says  when  he 
reads  it.  The  General  don't  like  me  much,  and  he 
may  try  to  make  fun  of  my  letter."  She  said  she'd 
do  it;  and  out  she  went,  Marcellus  folloAving;  but 
in  a  few  days  she  came  again,  saying  as  she  en- 
tered the  Governor's  offtce:  "Zeb,  they  took  that 
boy  and  put  him  right  back  in  the  army,  and  he's 
gAvine  to  die  in  less  than  a  month." 

"Did  you  show  General  Lee  my  letter?" 

"Yes,  and  w^hen  he  read  it  he  sorter  smiled,  and 
I  raised  my  stick,  jess  so,  and  said :  'I  dare  you  to 
laff  at  Zeb  Vance's  letter,  I'll  crack  your  head  in 
a  minit,  if  you  do.  Zeb  told  me  you  upstarts  up 
here  didn't  like  him.'  " 

"And  then  what  did  he  do?" 

"Why,  he  pretended  like  he  thought  a  sight  of 
you,  but  under  the  circumstances  he  reckoned  he'd 


114 


whitaker's  reminiscences, 


•Aunt  Abby.---I  dare  yon  to  laff  at  Zeb.  Vance's  letter  ;  111  crack 
vour  head  in  a  minit.  if  you  do." 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  115 

have  to  take  the  boy  back  into  the  army;  and  so 
he  tuck  him  right  in.-' 

Aunt  Abby  Avas  ^^•ith  Lee's  army  Avhen  it  surren- 
dered, and  gave  me  a  very  thrilling  account  of  it. 
She  said  they  told  her  that  she  must  wa\'e  her 
handkerchief  to  let  the  Yankees  know  that  she  Avas 
willing  to  surrender,  too.  ''Did  you  Ava^e  it?-'  I 
asked  her.  ''Not  much.  I  shook  it  so,  a  time  or 
two,  and  then  I  stuck  my  hand  behind  me  Then 
I  shook  it  again,  and  put  it  behind  me.  I  neAer 
AA  as  so  mad  in  all  my  life  as  I  was  when  one  of  them 
Yankees  came  along  and  sed  to  me,  ^Old  woman, 
you  needn't  mind  about  shaking  that  rag  any  more, 
AA'^e  don't  care  Avhether  you  surrender  or  not.'  I 
said,  'Drat  jour  mean  soul,  if  I  had  a  gun  I'd  shoot 
you  off  that  horse  and  leaA^e  you  here  for  the  buz- 
zards to  i)ick.'  " 

''And  then  Avhat  did  he  say.  Aunt  Abby?" 

"He  didn't  say  another  AA^ord,  but  rode  off  look- 
ing as  cheap  as  if  he'd  stole  a  sheep." 

When  Aunt  Abby  arriA^ed  at  Raleigh  from 
Greensboro,  after  the  surrender,  the  city,  of  course, 
Avas  in  the  hands  of  the  Y^ankees,  and,  as  she  Avas 
getting  off  the  car  at  the  depot  a  Yankee  soldier, 
seeing  an  old  woman  hobbling  out,  went  to  help  her 
down.  She  raised  her  stick  as  he  approached  her 
and  said,  Avith  an  oath  that  shocked  him,  "Don't 
you  come  any  nigher,  if  you  don't  want  your  head 
cracked.     No  d — d  Y^ankee  shall  touch  me." 

Not  long  after  her  return  she  Avent  to  headquar- 
ters to  see  the  Yankee  officials  about  some  horses 
that  had  been  taken  from  her.  The  GoA^ernor's 
office  was  being  used  as  Yankee  headquarters,  and 
to  that  Aunt  Abby  went.  When  she  entered  the 
door,  the  room  being  full  of  Yankee  officers,  she 
stopped,  leaned  on  her  cane,  and  aa  itli  a  contemptu- 
ous look  gazed  all  around.  Of  course  every  eye 
Avas  upon  her,  and  they  Avaited  to  see  what  she 


116  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

wanted.  At  length  she  spoke :  ^^ Yes,  here's  where 
gentlemen  used  to  sit,  but  now  it's  a  den  of  thieves.'' 
Then,  in  a  very  commanding  tone  of  voice,  she  said, 
''I  want  my  crap  critters." 

"Your  what?"  asked  a  Y^ankee. 

"My  crap  critters — my  horses,  you  fool;  my 
horses  you  infernal  thieves  stole  from  me." 

"Ah,  that's  it ;  you  want  your  horses.  How  many 
did  you  lose?" 

"Two  as  good  as  ever  pulled  a  plow,"  she  replied. 

"Well,  madam,  just  go  down  to  the  lot  and  pick 
out  two  of  the  very  best  horses  there." 

"I  won't  do  it.  I'll  go  and  get  two  of  the  poorest 
sore-backs  I  can  find.  I  won't  take  a  fine  horse. 
No  Y'ankee  shall  ever  have  it  to  say  I  got  back  more 
than  he  stole  from  me." 

It  was  about  1875  that  Aunt  Abby  made  a  profes- 
sion of  religion  and  joined  the  Methodist  church. 
I  saAv  her  not  long  after,  and  in  our  conversation, 
I  told  her  that  in  her  new  life  she  would  have  to 
avoid  the  saying  of  bad  words.  She  thought,  she 
said,  she  wouldn't  curse  anybody  but  niggers.  She 
didn't  think  it  any  sin  to  curse  them  sometimes.  I 
told  her  cursing  was  cursing,  and  she  finally  prom- 
ised that  she  would  try  not  to  curse  at  all.  I  then 
told  her  she  must  forgive  everybody  and  try  to  live 
in  peace  with  all  men.  She  said  she  Avould  forgive 
everybody  but  Bill  Holden.  Why  not  forgive  him? 
I  asked.  Because,  she  said,  he  treated  Zeb  Vance 
so  mean.  But,  said  I,  you  and  Zeb,  too,  must  for- 
give him.  I  hate  him  too  bad,  she  said,  to  forgive 
him.  And,  then,  she  added,  "Don't  the  Bible  say 
that  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day?" 
"Y^'es,"  said  I,  "but  you  are  not  God,  and  you  don't 
know  that  Mr.  Holden  is  wicked."  She  said  she'd 
try  to  do  the  best  she  could.  I  do  not  know  how 
it  came  about,  but  she  did  forgive  Mr.  Holden,  and 
in  her  older  age,  when  she  was  dependent  largely 


II^CIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  117 

upon  charity  for  the  necessities  of  life  she  had  no 
better  friend  than  he,  and  there  were  none  she 
thought  more  of  than  she  did  of  him. 

Aunt  Abby  occupied  a  conspicuous  place  in 
Tucker  Hall,  the  day  Governor  Vance  took  the 
oath  of  office,  standing  very  close  to  the  Governor 
and  watching  his  every  movement  with  a  concern 
that  could  only  have  been  equalled  by  a  juother  for 
an  only  son;  and  Avhen  the  Governor,  repeating  the 
oath  after  the  Chief  Justice,  came  to  the  end  of  it 
and  said,  ^'I  will,  so  help  me,  God,"  Aunt  Abby, 
looking  upon  him  with  more  than  a  mother's  in- 
terest, said,  "That  you  will,  honey,  that  you  will." 

During  the  "Centennial  of  Methodism"  here  in 
Raleigh  in  1876,  three  of  the  bishops  of  that  church 
attended,  and,  daily,  all  three  of  them  sat  on  the 
stage,  in  Metropolitan  Hall,  where  they  were  seen 
and  heard  by  the  thousands  of  people  who  came  to 
ptirticipate  in  the  proceedings  at  that  most  interest- 
ing occasion;  and,  on  the  same  stage,  over  to  one 
side,  there  sat  an  old  woman  whose  eyes  and  ears 
caught  everything ;  who  sometimes  smiled  and  some- 
times cried;  Avhose  bunchy  figure,  oid-time  clothes 
and  fly-bonnet  attracted  the  attention  of  everyone 
who  entered  the  hall.  That  v/as  "Aunt  Abby."  Not 
the  Aunt  Abby  House  of  1845,  nor  of  1850,  when 
engaged  in  lawsuits,  nor  the  Abby  House  of  the 
war  and  reconstruction  periods,  when  she,  like  the 
man  of  Gadara  who  lived  among  the  tombs,  could 
not  be  restrained;  but.  Aunt  Abby  redeemed; 
clothed,  and  in  her  right  mind,  with  a  heart  as  full 
of  gratitude  as  was  his  out  of  which  the  legion  of 
devils  had  been  driven,  when  beseeching  Jesus  that 
he  might  be  with  Him.  It  looked  so  strange  to  see 
her  there,  to  see  her  smiling  and  weeping  when  men 
talked  of  the  love  and  of  the  mercies  of  God;  so 
strange  to  see  one,  just  a  little  while  ago  so  full  of 
sin,  and  so  prone  to  seek  the  company  of  scoffers, 


lis  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

enjoying  the  company  of  the  people  of  God.  One 
sitting  out  in  the  congregation,  could  hear  a  whis- 
pered conversation  like  this:  ^' Which  is  Marvin; 
and  which  is  McTyeire;  and  which  is  Doggett? 
And  what  old  woman  is  that  on  the  stage?-'  And 
when  told  it  was  Abby  House,  the  question  would 
be,  ^^ What's  she  doing  up  there  among  the  bishops?'- 
Yes,  it  was  a  strange  sight,  but  no  more  so  than 
seeing  that  man  who,  so  lately  was  dwelling  among 
the  tombs  and  cutting  himself  with  stones,  clothed 
and  in  his  right  mind,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesu^s. 
And,  dear  reader,  if  we  are  so  fortunate  as  to  get 
a  glimpse  of  heaven  we  shall  meet  many  surprises 
there ;  for  we  shall  see  many  whom  we  have  judged 
to  be  unworthy  here,  and,  in  our  self -righteousness, 
have  shunned,  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father,  very  close-  to  the  friend  of  sinners,  whose 
blood  can  wash  away  all  sin  and  make  the  foulest 
clean.  No  one  enjoyed  that  centennial  occasion 
more  than  Aunt  Abby;  and  perhaps  she  had  more 
to  be  thankful  for.  All  the  bishops,  as  well  as  Aunt 
Abby,  who  sat  on  that  stage,  and  most  of  the  speak- 
ers, have  gone  to  their  rewards. 

It  was  said  that  Aunt  Abby  was  on  very  inti- 
mate terms  with  President  Davis,  and  always  called 
him  "Jeff,"  when  in  conversation  with  him;  and 
it  made  no  difference  to  her  whether  callers  Avere 
allowed  or  not,  to  see  the  President,  she'd  manage 
somehow  to  see  him.  She  heard  the  ex-president 
was  at  the  Yarborough  House  on  one  occasion  and 
went  to  see  him.  The  meeting  between  them  was 
amusing,  for  the  reason  that  she  gave  him  a  pair 
of  her  home-knit  socks,  and  was  anxious  to  know 
of  him  when  he  expected  to  have  another  war. 

I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  it,  but  I  heard 
that  she  went  to  Washington  City  during  Grant's 
administration  to  see  the  gold  chair  she  heard  that 
the  President  sat  in.  That  was  before  she  professed 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  119 

religion,  quit  saying  bad  words,  and  doing  ugly 
things.  She  got  into  the  White  House,  saw  Presi- 
dent Grant,  and  then  turning  and  looking  about 
she  asked,  ''Where's  that  golden  cheer?'' 

The  President  said  he  didn't  know. 

She  said,  "There's  one  here  somewhere,  for  Joe 
Turner  told  me  so,  and  I  know  he  wouldn't  tell  me 
a  lie;  and  I've  come  all  the  way  Jrom  North  Caro- 
lina to  see  it,  and  I  don't  want  to  hear  any  more 
of  your  lies  about  it.  Bring  that  golden  cheer  right 
out,  and  let  me  see  it  and  sit  down  in  it." 

After  a  long  parley  with  the  President,  she  was 
forced  to  leave  without  seeing  the  ''cheer,"  but  she 
always  thought  that  Grant  hid  it  from  her.  She 
knew  there  was  a  golden  chair  there  somewhere, 
for  Joe  Turner  told  her  so,  and  Joe  Turner  would 
not  tell  her  a  lie. 

In  the  last  days  of  Aunt  Abby  she  was  a  quiet, 
gentle-minded  old  lady  and  seemed  never  happier 
than  when  in  a  prayer-meeting.  She  opened  the 
doors  of  her  little  cottage  for  prayer-meeting  ser- 
vices, and  seemed  to  enjoy,  as  much  as  anyone 
could,  the  hymns,  prayers  and  exhortations.  She 
was  sick  for  quite  a  while  before  she  died,  but  1 
don't  think  she  suffered  for  the  lack  of  food,  medi- 
cine or  attention.  I  went  to  see  her  a  few  days 
before  her  death,  and  as  I  was  taking  my  leave  of 
her  I  remarked  that  I  was  going  away  from  the 
city  for  a  few  days.  "Then,"  said  she,  "I'll  tell  you 
good-bye  for  good,  for  I  won't  be  here  when  you 
come  back,  but  will  be  with  Minnie,"  alluding  to 
my  wife,  who  had  died  a  little  while  before.  And 
holding  my  hand  for  a  moment  she  asked:  "Do 
you  want  to  send  her  any  word?"  I  never  saw  her 
afterward,  for  when  I  returned  her  weary  body 
had  been  laid  to  rest,  and  her  blood-washed  soul, 
freed  from  the  troubles  of  this  life,  had  gone  home 


120  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

to  rest,  and  be  forever  with  Him  who  died  to  save  a 
sin-cursed  world. 

^'All's  well  that  ends  well.''  It  is  not  how  one 
is  born,  how  one  is  reared,  how  one  runs  for  awhile ; 
but,  how  the  race  ends. 

The  roughest  diamonds  when  polished  are  as 
bright  as  any;  they  may  have  lain  for  ages  in  the 
dirt  unnoticed,  but  they  are  diamonds  all  the  same, 
and  sooner  or  later  will  find  their  places  in  the 
crowns  of  kings. 

The  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, 
and  will  save,  to  the  uttermost,  all  who  believe.  A 
great  sinner  may  be  a  saint.  Whosoever  will  let 
him  take  the  water  of  life  freely. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  121 


OHAPTEK  XYII. 

Raleigh  an  Old  Camping  Place — First  Methodist 
Meeting-House — The  Coman  Family — A  Let- 
ter— A  Mock  Marriage. 

In  a  conversation  Avith  a  gentleman  not  long  ago, 
he  told  me  what  his  grandfather  used  to  tell  him 
about  a  eamping-groundj  the  old-time  people,  going 
to  and  returning  from  market,  had  at  the  cross- 
roads, about  where  the  State  House  stands.  His 
grandfather  said  a  night  rarely  ever  passed  when 
there  would  not  be  a  crowd  of  market  men  at  the 
cross-roads,  some  going  north  toward  Petersburg, 
some  south  toward  Cross-Creek — Fayetteville — 
some  going  west  toward  Hillsboro  and  further  west, 
and  some  going  toward  New  Bern.  Droves  of  cat- 
tle, sheep  and  hogs  often  lay  around  in  the  Avoods 
where  now  stand  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist  and 
Episcopal  churches,  all  unconscious  of  the  fact 
that  they  were  resting  on  the  future  site  of  the 
capital  of  a  great  State.  And  little  did  the  hogs, 
that  rubbed  themseh^es  against  the  oak  saplings, 
near  the  cross-roads,  think  that  these  saplings  Avere 
in  the  future  to  be  the  umbrageous  trees  beneath 
whose  branches  grave  legislators,  governors  and 
State  officials  would  study  statecraft;  the  young 
men  and  Avomen  would  stroll,  at  night,  as  the  soft 
rays  of  the  moonlight  Avould  steal  through  the 
overspreading  foliage,  Avhile  the  balmy  southern 
breeze  whispered  of  loA^e  and  marriage;  and  that 
little  children  were  to  find  a  playground  and  the 
nurses  a  shady  retreat  for  the  mothers'  darlings, 
in  the  days  that  were  to  come.  And  as  little  did 
the  market  men,  who  met  at  the  cross-roads,  coming 
from  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  strangers  to 
each  other,  but  friends  for  a  night — I  say,  little  did 


122 

thej  think,  as  the}^  sat  around  the  camp-fire,  smok- 
ing and  chewing,  and  talking  of  the  news  of  that 
day,  that  in  the  years  to  come,  the  ground  on  which 
they  rested  for  a  night,  would  be  the  most  noted 
spot  in  the  State. 

I  haye  heard  that  the  first  Methodist  meeting- 
house Ealeigh  eyer  had,  stood  near  the  Heck  resi- 
dence, and  was  built  of  logs.  The  Halifax  road, 
instead  of  going  out  Halifax  street,  ran,  before  the 
city  was  laid  off,  nearly  a  straight  course  from  the 
cross-roads,  where  the  capitol  stands,  to  the  Henry 
Mordecai  residence,  so  that  the  church  aboye  re- 
ferred to  near  the  Heck  residence,  was  on  the  public 
road.  There  is  no  liying  man  who  eyer  saw  that 
meeting-house.  I  can  not  now  remember  who  told 
me;  but  I  am  sure  that,  in  my  boyhood  days,  I 
heard  the  old  log  meeting-house,  that  used  to  be  a 
place  of  note,  frequently  spoken  of  by  the  older 
people. 

It  don't  look  now  much  like  a  place  for  deer 
hunting;  but,  an  old  negro  told  me,  when  I  was  a 
boy,  that  there  was  a  low  place  northeast  of  where 
Christ  Church  stands,  and  that  in  ante-Reyolution- 
ary  times  it  was  a  great  place  for  deer,  as  the  woods 
were  not  only  heayily  timbered,  but  there  was  a 
highland  pond,  or  rather  a  marshy  place,  some- 
where near  the  Dr.  Dick  Haywood  corner,  known 
as  the  ''salt  lick,"  and  that  a  deer  could  be  killed 
there  at  almost  any  time.  I  asked  that  old  negro 
who  told  her  the  deer  story,  and  she  said,  ''My 
daddy  told  me."  I  guess  it  was  so;  but  to  chil- 
dren and  grown  people  as  well,  who  neyer  saw  a 
liye  deer,  it  sounds  yery  much  like  a  Munchausen, 
to  say  that  Raleigh  used  to  be  a  good  place  for 
deer  hunting. 

It  will  soon  go  out  of  the  minds  of  our  people 
that  where  the  Governor's   Mansion   stands  used 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  123 

to  be  called  the  Lovejoy  Academy  Grove,  and  that 
more  youug  men  were  prepared  for  college  at  that 
academy  than  at  any  other  school  in  the  State,  ex- 
cept perhaps  the  Bingham  School  in  Orange.  ''Old 
Jeff/'  as  the  boys  called  him,  Avas  a  popular  teacher, 
and  filled  a  big  place  for  many  years  in  the  City  of 
Oaks.  It  seemed  sacrilegious,  indeed,  when,  to 
build  the  Governor's  Mansion,  the  workmen  began 
to  tear  down  the  old  academy  and  the  residence 
that  had  stood  so  long  on  that  square. 

I  received  a  letter  the  other  day  from  a  gentle- 
man whose  ancestry  once  lived  in  Kaleigh,  and  as 
it  refers  to  many  people  and  incidents  that  may 
call  up  in  other  minds  other  incidents  of  the  olden 
time,  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  giving  it,  as  I  re- 
ceived it,  to  your  readers.     Here  it  is : 

^'Sylva,  Jackson  County,  N.  C, 

''January  7,  1904. 

''R.  E.  WUtaker,  Esq. 

"Dear  Sir: — I  am  a  long-time  subscriber  to  the 
Neics  and  Observer,  and  have  been  very  much  in- 
terested in  your  old-time  reminiscences  of  men  and 
things  in  Kaleigh  and  its  vicinity,  more  so  on  ac- 
count of  the  many  things  related  by  my  mother, 
who  was  born  in  Ealeigh  on  the  1st  of  July,  1810. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  James  Coman,  who  mar- 
ried Sallie  Ai-mstrong.  Margaret  Elizabet'n  Co- 
man  was  mv  mother's  maiden  name,  and  married 
John  B.  Love  in  1825,  and  came  to  this  place,  then 
Haywood  County,  now  Jackson  County,  and  lived 
in  the  house  now  occupied  by  myself  and  brother 
sixty-seven  years,  and  died  in  1893.  Her  father, 
James  Coman,  died  in  the  city  of  Raleigh  on  July 
2,  1841.  From  the  time  of  her  marriage  in  1825 
until  her  father  died  in  1841,  she  made  frequent 
visits  to  her  father's  home,  in  a  carriage  with  her 
children  and  negro  driver,  a  distance  of  over  three 


124 

hundred  miles.  I  have  often  heard  her  tell  of  her 
experience  on  these  trips  to  and  fro,  and  how  her 
many  friends  would  come  to  see  her  when  she  got 
to  Kaleigh,  and  have  her  to  tell  all  she  knew  about 
the  mountains  and  its  people.  The  HajAVOods,  the 
Polks,  the  DevereQxs,  the  Whitakers,  the  Free- 
mans,  etc.,  are  all  familiar  names  to  me  as  though 
I  was  to  the  "manor  born,''  as  they  were  my  moth- 
er's contemporaries. 

"Dr.  McPheeters  was  her  teacher  and  Gonaka 
her  music  teacher.  I  have  heard  her  speak  of  Betty 
Haywood — Betsy  John  Haywood,  and  the  May-day 
parties  when  she  was  crowned  queen,  and  the  Eal- 
eigh  Blues,  and  the  visit  of  LaFayette,  etc.,  etc. 
She  had  a  granddaughter  to  be  born  in  1858,  and 
my  sister  said :  ^Now,  mother,  you  must  name  my 
baby.'  ^Well,'  she  said,  ^I  will  simply  call  her  Love, 
after  my  pretty  and  old-time  friend,  Miss  Love 
Freeman,  of  Kaleigh,  N.  C  Kichard  Smith  and 
wife,  Penelope,  and  daughter,  Mary,  she  often  spoke 
of  as  friends  of  the  family.  My  mother  had  but 
one  brother,  Matthew  James  Coman.  He  came  to 
the  mountains  of  North  Carolina  and  lived  with  his 
married  sister,  Mrs.  Maria  W.  Love,  wife  of  James 
R.  Love,  and  Mrs.  John  B.  Love,  my  mother.  He 
married  late  in  life  to  Miss  Betty  Ann  Fulbright. 
His  granddaughter,  the  wife  of  Hon.  W.  T.  Craw- 
ford, of  Waynesville,  N.  C,  inherited  the  talent  of 
her  grandfather  and  often  wrote  for  the  papers. 
My  uncle,  after  the  Civil  War,  moved  to  Texas  and 
died  there.  I  must  believe  you  knew  him  in  boy- 
hood and  young  manhood.  I  have  heard  him  say 
that  he  was  a  schoolmate  of  James  K.  Polk  and 
that  he  studied  law  under  Judge  Gaston  and  ob- 
tained license  to  practice  law.  Intemperance  was 
his  ruin.  I  am  glad  to  see  that  while  the  State  is 
making  a  good  effort  to  educate  her  children,  she 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  125 

is  also  making  an  effort  to  destroy  the  demon  whis- 
key that  has  been  such  a  blight  upon  her  well-being. 
I  love  to  read  your  papers  of  the  past,  and  hope  by 
this  means  the  history  of  the  State  may  be  more 
successfully  attained.  Why  not,  in  each  and  every 
county,  some  old  man  capable  will  write  the  his- 
tory of  its  great  men  and  women  and  publish  in 
the  News  and  Observer,  to  be  filed  away  for  the 
future  historian?  I  have  taken  this  liberty  to  oc- 
cupy a  space  of  your  time  that  I  may  know  more 
about  you  and  your  family  history.  With  many 
kind  wishes  forVou,  and  that  you  may  be  spared 
for  years  to  come  to  write  all  you  know  and  feel,  I 
am,  very  truly  yours, 

"An  old  Confederate,  D.  L.  Love." 

If  the  reader  will  look  on  the  imaginary  map  I 
will  draw  he  wall  see  the  old  Coman  residence.  I 
stand  in  front  of  Sherwood  Higgs  &  Co.,  and  look- 
ing across  Fayetteville  street,  I  see  a  residence  that 
stands  about  \alf  way  between  Fayetteville  street 
and  Salisbury  street,  fronting  on  Fayetteville,  the 
negro  houses  being  on  Salisbury  street.  The  yard 
fence  takes  in  all  the  ground  covered  by  the  Kaleigh 
National  Bank,  the  buildings  in  which  Edwards  & 
Broughton  are  located,  as  job  printers,  and  the 
large  store  occupied  by  Boylan,  Pearce  &  Company. 
The  gate  opening  on  Fayetteville  street  is  about  the 
center  of  the  lot.  That  is  the  Coman  property,  of 
the  olden  time,  but  when  I  w^as  a  boy  James  T. 
Marriott,  Esq.,  clerk  of  the  county  court,  lived 
there.  Right  across  Hargett  street,  going  out  a 
side  gate,  I  find  the  family,  Richard,  Penelope  and 
Mary  Smith,  referred  to  in  the  letter  above.  But, 
how  many  people  now  living  in  Raleigh  ever  heard 
of  old  "Dick  Smith?"  Of  course  the  older  ones  re- 
member something  of  the  family,  but  the  younger 
ones,  and  they  are  the  majority,  do  not. 


126  whitaker's  kemixiscences, 

Just  at  this  point  I  remember  how  the  bojs 
played  off  a  most  cruel  joke  on  a  half-witted  fellow, 
who  took  a  great  fancy  to  a  rich  young  lady  of  the 
olden  time,  all  unknown  to  her,  for  she  did  not  even 
know  him,  though  he  was  telling  around  how  much 
he  loved  her,  and  making,  or  trying  to  make,  the 
impression  that  she  was  favoring  his  suit.  The  rea- 
son he  thought  so,  the  boys  had  told  him  the  way  to 
make  her  fall  in  love  with  him,  was  to  get  him  a 
blue  broadcloth  coat  with  brass  buttons  on  it,  a 
buff  vest  and  lavender  colored  pants,  a  silk  hat  and 
kid  gloves,  and,  every  Sunda^^  morning,  when  Miss 
Mary  sat  on  the  porch  or  at  the  window,  walk  past 
the  house  and  cast  love  glances  at  her.  He  did  it, 
and  of  course  a  delegation  of  mischievous  boys  were 
on  the  lookout  watching  his  movements,  as  he'd  go 
and  come,  stopping  sometimes  to  heave  a  lover's  sigh. 
After  such  dress  parade,  he  generally  reported  to 
the  boys  the  supposed  result,  vrhich  to  his  mind  was 
always  favorable.  The  boys  told  him  to  keep  on 
parading,  and  casting  glances  at  her,  and  sooner  or 
later  she'd  be  certain  to  fall  desperately  in  love 
with  him — she  just  couldn't  help  it.  Not  long  after 
that  he  received  a  letter  from  (as  she  signed  her- 
self) "The  Girl  Who  Loves."  It  was  written  on 
sweet-scented  paper  and  breathed  in  every  line  the 
most  delicious  tenderness  of  sentiment;  but,  with 
girlish  coyness,  the  writer  said,  "I'll  not  sign  my 
name  for  fear  you  do  not  love  me  as  I  do  you,  and 
you  might  go  off  and  make  sport  of  my  weakness. 
But  you  know  who  I  am,  for,  as  you  have  gone  by 
my  home,  these  last  few  Sunday  mornings  you  could 
not  fail  to  see  how  tenderly,  sweetly,  yea,  lovingly 
I  gazed  upon  your  matchless  form  and  handsome 
face,"  etc.,  etc.  This  letter  went  to  him  through 
the  post-office,  and  was  carried  by  him  right  to  the 
boys  to  be  read,  for  he  could  neither  write  nor  read 
writing.     The  reader  understands,  of  course,  that 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  127 

these  boys  wrote  the  letter.  He  took  one  of  them  off 
to  one  side  and  made  him  promise  not  to  tell  any- 
thing, and  the  promise  being  duly  made,  he  handed 
him  the  letter  to  read.  It  was  too  good  to  keep,  so 
he  let  all  the  boys  read  it,  which  they  did  gravely 
enough,  and  then  very  enthusiastically  congratu- 
lated him  upon  the  prospect  of  speedily  becoming  a 
rich  man's  son-in-law.  Of  course  a  reply  had  to  be 
written  at  once,  and  the  boy  who  volunteered  to  see 
that  the  correspondence  should  be  carried  on  all 
right,  said,  after  reading  the  loving  etfusion  to  the 
hero  of  the  story,  that  he  would  properly  address 
and  mail  the  letter,  which  he  did  by  tearing  it  up 
Soon,  however,  another  letter  came  filled  with  more 
love  than  the  first,  and  it  made  the  request  that, 
in  the  next  Sunday  morning  promenade  by  her 
house,  he  Avould  stop  in  front  of  the  porch,  if  he 
saw  her  there,  and  let  her  feast  her  eyes  on  the  man 
she  loved  better  than  she  did  herself.  And  sure 
enough  he  did  it.  Over  on  the  other  side  of  the 
street,  near  a  shade  tree,  he  stood  for  half  an  liour 
playing  Romeo  to  his  Juliet ;  but  she  thought,  if  she 
noticed  him  at  all,  that  he  was  some  vain  fellow 
^7ho,  proud  of  his  Sunday  clothes,  was  standing  and 
admiring  himself  under  the  tree,  as  he  watched  the 
people  going  to  church.  But  the  next  letter  he  re- 
ceived told  how  she  almost  went  into  transports  at 
sight  of  him,  and  then  told  how  miserable  she  was, 
and  always  would  be,  when  she  could  not  see  him. 
and  intimated  that  marriage  was  the  only  escape  to 
her  out  of  the  almost  unbearable  condition.  That 
letter  almost  ran  the  felloAV  crazy,  and  it  was  with 
difficulty  the  boys  restrained  him  from  doing  some- 
thing rash.  One  or  two  more  letters  passed,  and 
they  were  engaged.  Elopement  and  marriage  Avere 
suggested,  and  she  said  the  sooner  over  with,  the 
better  she  would  like  it.  The  arrangement  was  to 
meet  under  the  big  oak  on  Xash  Square  about  nine 


128  whitaker's  eemixiscences, 

o'clock  at  night,  and  be  married,  as  she  suggested, 
without  license,  lest  the  secret  might  get  out,  but 
s.z  soon  as  the  ceremony  Avas  over  and  the  danger  of 
interference  no  longer  stood  in  the  way,  the  license 
was  to  be  secured.     All  that  was  satisfactory.     So 
at  9  o'clock,  one  night,  our  hero  and  his  friends,  one 
of  whom  posed  as  a  squire,  were  promptly  under 
the  tree.     Presently  one  said,  ''There  she  comes!" 
Sure  enough,  a  figure  in  trailing  dress,  hooded  and 
veiled  beyond  recognition,  entered  the  circle,  ask- 
ing in  a  tremulous  tone  of  voice:     ''Where  is  he? 
AVhich  is  he?"     They  locked  arms,  Avhen  the  'Squire 
asked :     "Where  is  the  license?"     "The  money  is  in 
my  hands  with  which  to  buy  the  license  as  soon  as 
the  marriage  is  over,"   said   one  of  the  groom's 
friends.     "That  being  so,   I'll  proceed,"   said  the 
'Squire,  and  he  proceeded.     The  marriage  over,  it 
was  arranged  by  the  boys  that  a  reception  be  given 
aJ;  a  place  designated,  after  which  the  bride  and 
groom  would  go  to  the  home  of  the  groom,  and  there 
remain  until  the  irate  parents  became  reconciled. 
At  that  reception  the  bride  disappeared.     The  boys 
had  a  medley  of  things  not  usual  at  ordinary  recep- 
tions, and  it  turned  out,  in  the  whirl  of  excitement, 
that  the  bride,  who,  up  to  that  time,  was  still  hooded 
and    veiled,     suddenly    disappeared.     While    the 
groom's   attention    was   turned    in    another   direc- 
tion, the  dress,   hood  and  veil   suddenly   fell   off 
the  bride,  and,  instead  of  a  woman  there  stood  a 
man  in  her  place.     When  the  groom  turned  to  look 
upon  his  bride  she  was  nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  the 
boys  swore  that  the  door  had  not  been  opened  and 
that  no  one  had  gone  out.     "But  where  is  my  wife?" 
the  groom  demanded.     "I'm  the  one  you  married," 
said  the  boy  who  had  impersonated  the  bride,  "and 
if  you  are  ready  we'll  leave  this  crowd  and  go  to 
your  lovely  home  where  we  can  be  happy  together." 


INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  129 

The  remark  the  groom  made  would  not  look  well 
in  print.  The  next  day  he  came  to  my  office  and 
wanted  me  to  ''write  a  piece,-'  as  he  said,  to  tell  how 
badl}^  he  had  been  treated.  He  gave  me  the  names 
0£  all  the  boys  Avho  had  figured  m  the  matter,  and 
assured  me  that  if  I  would  not  publish  them  he 
intended  to  sue  the  last  one  of  them.  I  told  him  I 
thought  that  would  be  the  better  course,  but  he'd 
better  think  over  the  matter  awhile.  It  was  not 
long  before  I  noticed  that  he  and  the  boys  were  on 
good  terms  again,  but  I  don't  think  he  ever  prome- 
naded by  Miss  Mary's  residence  any  more.  She  was 
happily  unconscious  of  the  whole  matter,  and  the 
boys  justified  their  conduct  by  saying  it  w^as  the 
only  way  to  bring  the  blockhead  to  his  senses.  And 
I  guess  it  was. 

I  heard  that  some  young  men  played  off  a  similar 
joke  on  a  very  prominent  citizen,  near  Forestville, 
one  night;  waked  him  up  and  hurried  him  out  in 
the  cold  to  marry  a  runaway  coui^le  which  turned 
out  to  be  a  couple  of  men;  that  ended  in  a  jolly 
good  time,  w^hich  all  parties  enjoyed,  but  the  joke 
on  the  magistrate  could  not  be  suppressed. 

One  of  my  old  pupils  v^-ho  lives  twelve  miles  in 
the  country  called  me  up  on  the  'phone  a  few  nights 
ago  to  tell  me  how  much  he  enjoyed  reading  my  trip 
to  Fuquay,  and  he  told  me  a  thing  about  the  second 
school  I  taught  I  never  knew  before.  I  whipped  a 
boy  in  that  school,  and  he  and  his  father  never  liked 
me.  I  knew  that,  but  did  not  know  why.  The 
Avhipping  I  gave  the  boy  did  not  hurt  him;  I  was 
very  certain  of  that,  although  I  heard  along  about 
that  time,  as  the  news  flew  in  the  air,  that  I  gave 
him'  a  cruel  whipping;  cutting  the  blood  out,  etc. 
I  knew  it  was  not  so,  and  I  could  not  understand 
how  such  a  report  ever  got  out,  and  for  all  these 
years  it  has  been  a  mysterv.  But  over  the  'phone 
9 


130  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  other  night  my  old  pupil  told  me  how  that 
bloody  story  started.  The  boy,  in  order  to  make 
himself  a  martyr  and  his  teacher  a  tyrant,  on  his 
way  home  lacerated  his  back  with  bamboo  briers 
and  then  shook  the  bloody  shirt  at  his  father  as 
evidence  of  the  teacher's  cruelty. 

What  a  wonderful  thing  is  the  telephone!  The 
other  night  I  stood  in  my  own  house  here  in  Ral- 
eigh and  conversed  with  four  gentlemen  in  the 
country,  the  conversation  going  on  just  as  smoothly 
as  if  we  five  had  been  sitting  around  the  same  fire. 
Jeff  Gulley,  Tom  Turner,  William  Turner  and  Dr. 
McCullers,  each  at  his  own  home,  twelve  miles  in 
the  country,  and  several  miles  apart,  and  this  writ- 
er, talking  together  as  though  looking  into  each 
other's  faces.  Wonderful!  Not  long  ago  I  held 
my  watch  near  the  'phone  and  asked  a  friend  15 
miles  away,  what  she  heard.  The  reply  was,  "I 
hear  a  watch  ticking."  In  many  things  we  are 
certainly  getting  ahead  of  the  old  times.  The  ques- 
tion is,  are  we  getting  better? 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  131 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Isliam    Lloyd — Ingratitude — Old-Time    Christmas. 

One  of  the  oddest  characters  that  lived  in  our 
city  during  and  for  several  j^ears  after  the  war, 
was  Isham  Lloyd.  In  the  first  place,  he  never  made 
any  pretension  to  good  looks,  but  seemed  to  take 
pleasure  in  being  homely.  I  don't  think  he  loved 
to  work,  though  he  sometimes  had  it  to  do,  for  he 
had  a  wife  w^ho  made  him  move  about,  and  turn 
his  hands  to  many  things  he  would  never  have 
touched  but  for  her.  Isham  was  very  chunky, 
stoop-shouldered,  and  his  head  bent  forward,  mak- 
ing  him  appear  as  if  he  were  all  the  time  looking 
for  something  on  the  ground.  Everybody  knew 
him,  for  he  was  the  only  one  of  his  kind,  and  he 
knew  everybody  and  was  pretty  well  posted  as  to 
the  dinner  hour  of  a  great  many,  which  knowledge 
he  made  good  use  of  nearly  every  day.  He  as  well 
as  his  wife,  was  a  member  of  the  church,  but  he 
never  did  learn  how  to  conduct  himself  when  he 
attended  divine  services,  as  an  incident  or  two  will 
verify. 

On  one  occasion  he  arrived  at  church  soon  after 
the  preacher  had  announced  his  text,  and  getting 
just  inside  the  door  he  stopped,  turned  his  head 
this  way  and  that  way,  cleared  his  throat  as  if  to 
attract  attention,  and  when  everybody  in  the  house, 
preacher  and  all,  turned  to  look  at  him,  he  spoke 
out,  saying,  "How'se  you  all  this  mawning?''  Wait- 
ing for  a  moment  for  some  one  to  answer  his  salu- 
tation, but  seeing  no  one  did,  he  repeated,  "How'se 
jou  all  this  mawuing?''  Then  turning  to  take  a 
seat  on  the  nearest  bench  he  said :  "I  got  a  mighty 
hurting  in  my  back  and  I  ain't  a  feeling  well ;  and 
the  old  'Oman's  too  sick  to  come  to  meeting  to-day," 


132  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Of  course  the  congregation  could  not  help  exhibit- 
ing a  little  merriment  at  his  expense;  but  Isham 
never  looked  more  solemn  or  pious,  and  didn't  see 
anything  to  smile  at. 

The  reader  must  not  think  that  Le  Avas  an  idiot, 
or  that  he  lacked  mother  wit.  He  was  simply  a 
rough  specimen  of  untutored  humanity,  raised 
v/hen  and  where  polish  w^as  not  considered  neces- 
sary, perhaps;  or,  what  is  more  probable,  where 
he  had  not  the  advantages  that  would  have  better 
fitted  him  for  the  times  into  which  old  age  carried 
him.  As  an  evidence  of  his  wit,  on  one  occasion, 
when  the  good  people  of  the  city  vvcre  giving  out 
wood  to  the  poor  he  called  at  headquarters  to  put 
in  his  plea ;  he  had  some  wood,  and  was  aware  that 
some  of  his  neighbors  who  were  also  asking  for 
wood  knew  that  he  had  a  little  on  hand,  and  think- 
ing they  might  tell  the  committee  about  it,  he  fore- 
stalled anything  of  the  sort  by  rushing  into  the 
room  and  asking:  "Do  you  give  wood  to  anybody 
that's  got  some?''  "No,"  answered  the  chairman 
of  the  committee,  "not  until  we  supply  those  who 
have  none."  "Then,"  replied  old  Isham,  "me  and 
the  old  'oman  will  freeze  to  death,  for  the  little 
wood  I've  got  is  green  ^swiggum'  and  it'll  take  all 
the  iitard'  in  the  county  to  burn  a  stick  of  it." 
The  committee  thought,  that  being  the  case,  they 
had  better  let  him  have  a  small  load,  which  they 
did.  He  did  have  a  stick  or  two  of  green  sweet- 
gum,  or  "swiggum,"  as  he  called  it,  and  some  more 
besides,  but  the  committee,  thinking  that  "green 
swiggum"  was  all  he  had,  and  but  little  of  that,  did 
not  hesitate  to  divide  with  him. 

One  Christmas  day  a  family  sent  him  and  his 
wife  the  very  best  dinner  that  could  be  made  up 
from  their  table,  filling  a  good-sized  basket  with 
such  palatable  things  as  turkey,  ham,  potatoes,  rice, 
beans,  bread,  biscuits,  cakes,  and  so  forth,  and,  withal. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  133 

a  bowl  of  stewed  oysters,  expectiug,  of  course,  Avlieu 
the  servant  returned  he  would  bring  the  thanks  of 
a  grateful  old  couple  for  the  nice  Christmas  dinner 
sent.  And  so,  as  the  servant  came  in,  the  lady 
asked,  "What  did  they  say?"  The  servant  seemed 
to  hesitate,  but  at  length  answered:  ''Missus,  I'm 
ashamed  to  tell  you,  but  'spose  I  must.  Old  ^Mrs. 
Lloyd  said  it  was  a  right  good  dinner;  but  Mr. 
Lloyd  said  he  didn't  thank  nobody  for  sending  him 
a  dinner  and  not  send  a  wheelbarrow  full  of  Avood 
to  make  a  fire  to  eat  it  by."  The  lady  said  to  the 
servant,  "Get  the  w^heelbarrow  and  carry  the  old 
people  a  load  of  wood."  "No,  Missus,"  said  the 
servant,  "dey's  got  more  wood  at  dey  wood  pile 
than  you'se  got  at  you'rn,  and,  if  you  please,  mam, 
I  don't  want  to  carry  'em  any."     And  he  did  not. 

On  one  occasion  at  a  church  meeting  the  question 
of  purchasing  an  organ  was  being  discussed,  and 
Isham  thinking  he  had  as  much  right  to  make  a 
speech  as  any  one  else,  said :  "Dar  ain't  no  use  o' 
gittin'  a  or  gin  for  dey '11  never  play  on  it.  Dey  got 
a  shan'leer  here  last  year  and  dey's  never  played 
a  chune  on  hit  yit,  as  ever  I  hearn  tell  on." 

Some  of  the  boys  prevailed  upon  Isham  to  allow 
his  name  to  be  run  for  Mayor,  assuring  him  in  the 
morning  when  the  polls  were  opened  that  it  was 
only  a  matter  of  a  few  hours  before  he  would  be 
sitting  in  the  Mayor's  office  with  his  feet  on  the 
desk,  smoking  cigars,  dealing  out  wise  and  right- 
eous decisions,  and  drawing  his  hundred  dollars  a 
month.  All  the  forenoon  he  was  going  from  ward 
to  ward  seeing  how  the  matter  was  progressing, 
and  at  each  he  was  informed  that  Lloyd  Avas  the 
coming  man.  Dozens  of  young  fellows,  w^ho  wished 
to  be  policemen,  importuned  him  to  help  them  to 
secure  positions,  and  in  the  goodness  of  his  heart 
he  promised  to  do  all  he  could  for  each  one.     At  12 


134  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

o'clock  he  went  home  to  dinner  and  told  his  wife 
that  to-morrow  she'd  be  Mrs.  Mayor  and  wouldn't 
have  to  take  in  washing  any  more,  and  they'd  move 
up  town  and  go  to  the  big  church.  The  old  lady 
heard  him  through,  and  then  chopped  him  off  by 
saying :  "Isham  Lloyd,  you  are  an  old  fool ;  you'd 
better  be  cutting  wood  for  somebody,  which  will 
pay  you  a  sight  better  than  listening  to  what  them 
lying  fellows  up  town  are  telling  you."  But  he 
paid  no  heed  to  her  words.  As  soon  as  he  swal- 
lowed his  dinner  he  went  back  to  look  after  his  in- 
terest, and  was  astonished  to  hear  that,  while  he 
was  at  his  dinner,  his  opponent  had  gained  on  and 
even  gotten  ahead  of  him;  that  it  was  going  to  be 
a  mighty  close  race.  And  so,  as  the  evening  wore 
away,  his  pretended  friends,  feigning  a  gTeat  deal 
of  disappointment  at  the  turn  things  had  taken 
against  him,  gradually  prepared  him  for  defeat. 
About  sunset  he  started  home,  a  sadder  yet  a  wiser 
man.  The  writer  happened  to  be  in  the  locality  of 
Isham's  home,  and  heard  an  angry  woman's  voice 
saying:  ^'Leave  here,  you  good-for-nothing  old 
fool !"  and  looking  in  the  direction  of  the  voice  he 
saw  Isham  going  half -bent,  about  which  time  the 
irate  woman  hurled  a  brick-bat  which  struck  him 
on  the  back  of  his  neck  and  knocked  him  on  his 
hands  and  knees.  As  he  crawled  along  trying  to 
rise,  I  heard  him  say :  "I  got  two  beatings  to-day. 
Mayor  Harrison  beat  me  up  town,  and  de  ole  'oman 
beat  me  down  here.  Now  what's  I  gwine  to  do?" 
I  interposed  and  secured  from  the  old  woman  per- 
mission for  him  to  return  to  his  home  on  the  condi- 
tion that  he'd  cut  that  wood  at  the  wood-pile.  And 
the  old  fellow  went  at  it. 

In  the  last  years  of  his  life,  Isham  spent  most  of 
his  time  going  around  with  a  basket  on  his  arm, 
asking  alms,  but  unlike  most  people  who  receive 
charity,  he  was  hard  to  please.     He  wanted  the  best 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


135 


Isham  Lloyd  going  around  with  a  basket. 


136  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

you  had,  and  a  basket  full  of  it.  And  he  did  not 
hesitate  about  going  into  the  kitchen  to  see  for  him- 
self what  was  being  cooked,  so  that  if  he  staid  to 
dinner,  which  he  generally  did,  he  could  tell  whether 
or  not  anything  had  been  kept  back;  if  it  had,  he 
would  ask  why  such  a  dish  had  not  been  brought  in. 
Because  of  his  prjdng  disposition,  added  to  his  in- 
gratitude, he  became  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  a 
very  unwelcome  visitor  at  most  places. 

While  I  am  on  the  subject  of  ingratitude,  I  am 
reminded  that  it  is  a  very  universal  failing,  as  old 
as  our  race;  and  while  some  may  be  better  than 
seme  others,  yet  we  see  in  the  whole  human  family 
a  very  decided  tendency  to  be  ungrateful.  Ingrati- 
tude is  seen  in  the  fact  that  we  do  not  trust  in  the 
Lord,  but  in  ourselves — our  wisdom,  our  strength, 
our  righteousness;  and  in  the  further  fact  that  we 
do  not  do  good.  Instead  of  acknowledging  God 
as  our  Father  and  the  bestower  of  every  blessing, 
we  assume  that  we  take  care  of  ourselves,  and  owe 
God  nothing;  demonstrating  to  the  angels  who  are 
looking  down  in  amazement  upon  our  ingratitude, 
that  the  ox  which  knoweth  his  owner  and  the  ass 
which  knoweth  his  master's  crib,  are  more  consid- 
erate and  more  grateful,  brutes  as  they  are,  than 
is  man  who  is  made  in  God's  image,  and  for  whom 
Christ  died.  A  hog  doesn't  take  time  to  say  grace 
nor  to  return  thanks;  but  we  can  excuse  the  hog 
on  the  ground  that  he's  a  hog;  but,  there  can  be 
no  good  reason  given  why  a  man  should  be  as  hog- 
gish as  a  hog;  eating,  drinking,  lying  down  and 
sleeping  without,  by  word  or  act,  ever  showing  that 
he  is  grateful  for  the  air  he  breathes,  the  bread  he 
eats,  the  water  he  drinks,  the  light  which  cheers 
his  pathway  and  the  reason  which  elevates  him 
above  all  other  creatures,  assuring  him  of  the  truth 
of  the  statement  that  God  "breathed  into  him  a 
living  soul." 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  137 

How  many  Godless  homes  there  are  in  our  so- 
called  Christian  land  it  would  shame  us  to  know — 
homes  in  which  God  is  never  remembered  in  the 
way  of  prayer  or  of  praise — homes  in  Avhich  the 
I^ible  is  not  read,  except  perhaps  when  the  preacher 
comes ;  in  which  there  are  no  evening  nor  morning- 
prayers,  and  no  blessing  is  asked  at  the  table.  Men 
eat,*^  lie  down  and  sleep,  rise  up  in  the  morning  and 
eat  and  go  out  and  spend  the  day,  never  uttering  a 
prayer  or  lifting  up  the  voice  of  praise,  as  if  they 
were  hogs  indeed. 

•   The  old-time  Christmas  in  the  country  was  an 
occasion  of  more  than  ordinary  pleasure. 

In  the  first  place,  we  small  boys  expected  to  put 
on  shoes  and  stockings  Christmas  morning,  shoes 
made  at  home  and  stockings  knit  at  home.  With 
copperas  blacking  and  tallow^  shining,  our  home- 
made shoes  looked  almost  as  fine  as  store  shoes; 
and  we  were  proud  of  them,  for,  after  wearing  out 
the  shoes  of  last  winter  we  little  fellows  had  been 
going  barefooted. 

From  an  hour  before  day  until  sunrise,  the  larger 
boys,  who  could  manage  firearms,  shot  off  Christ- 
mas guns.  We  smaller  boys  made  almost  as  much 
noise  by  slamming  wide  boards  upon  the  frozen 
ground,  and  were  quite  as  happy  as  the  big  boys. 
Santa  Claus  did  not  go  round  in  my  young  days 
with  all  sorts  of  jim-cracks  and  tinselled  nothings, 
and  feed  the  children  on  taffy;  he  brought  things 
that  were  useful,  and  always  suited  the  gift  to  the 
special  need  or  wish  of  the  child,  and  the  presents 
thus  bestowed  made  us  just  as  happy  as  if  more  had 
been  given.  After  awhile  breakfast  would  come  on, 
and,  to  an  old  man,  living  in  town,  and  eating  mar- 
ket sausage,  the  ingredients  of  which  one  had  bet- 
ter not  be  too  inquisitive  about,  the  recollection  of 
the  home-made  sausage   that  we  had    Christmas 


138  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

morning,  is  a  memory  that  makes  the  mouth  water, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  luscious  spare-ribs,  the  chit- 
terlings, the  crackling  bread,  the  big  hominy,  the 
biscuits  and  the  batter  cakes,  etc. 

Christmas  day  was  spent  in  rabbit  hunting  by 
we.  smaller  boys,  the  larger  ones  went  to  see  the 
girls,  and  friends  and  neighbors  met,  and  enjoyed 
themselves. 

At  night  the  young  people  would  congregate  at 
some  neighbor's  house,  and,  unrestrained  by  formal- 
ities and  conventionalities,  would  engage  in  such 
sports  as  would  give  pleasure  to  all  present,  even 
the  fathers  and  mothers  who  might  drop  in.  Yea, 
they  had  refreshments.  A  barrel  of  persimmon 
beer  was  handy,  and  a  glass  of  that,  and  a  big  slice 
of  the  old-time  pound-cake,  our  mothers  used  to 
make,  would  lay  in  the  shade  the  so-called  "dainty 
refreshments''  of  modern  times,  when  a  fellow  gets 
a  cracker,  a  thimbleful  of  ice-cream  and  about 
enough  cake  to  fill  a  hollow  tooth.  Certainly  we 
had  refreshments — in  the  plural  number  at  that — 
for,  before  one  could  drink  the  first  glass  of  beer 
and  eat  his  first  slice  of  cake,  here  came  the  pitcher 
and  the  plate  again.  Yes,  they  v/ere  good  times, 
real  old-fashioned  Democratic  times — times  long  to 
be  remembered.  So  different  from  our  "Keceptions 
of  to-day,"  when  a  fellow  and  his  wife  and  some 
or  the  aunts,  nieces  and  cousins  put  on  their  best 
clothes  and  stand  up  in  the  hall  "to  receive";  and 
the  crowd  marches  round,  and  into  the  dining-rooia 
and  out  at  the  back  door  and  off  home,  as  stiff*  and 
as  solemnly  as  a  funeral.  But  I  guess  it's  all 
right,  and  fifty  years  hence  some  writer  will  tell 
how  times  were  and  how  much  enjoyment  the  peo- 
ple had  in  these  days,  and,  till  Gabriel  blows,  I 
doubt  not,  the  people  will  still  be  bragging  on  the 
good  old  times  of  fifty  years  ago. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  139 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

How  Some  Men's  Pockets   are  Picked — Whiskey 
Costs  More  Than  the  Gospel. 

Many  a  man  addicted  to  taking  his  drams — to 
treating  and  being  treated — has  gone  home  and 
startled  his  wife  and  grieved  his  children  by  say- 
ing as  he  thrust  his  fingers  into  his  pocket :  ^'Some- 
body's picked  my  pocket;  I  have  lost  a  five-dollar 
bill !"  And  getting  up,  he'd  stamp  the  floor,  clencJi 
his  fist,  put  on  the  air  of  injured  innocence  and 
swear  he'd  "kill  the  first  man  he  caught  fingering 
ii^  his  jacket  pocket  the  next  time  he  went  out/' 
And  then  sitting  doAvn  and  dropping  his  face  into 
his  hands  he'd  pretend  to  be  almost  heart-broken  as 
he  said  to  himself  (but  loud  enough  for  wife  and 
children  to  hear  him),  "To  think  how  hard  I  worked 
for  that  five  dollars,  and  how  many  comforts  could 
have  been  bought  with  it;  and  wife  and  children 
needing  shoes;  and  my  taxes  not  paid;  and  the 
preacher  is  expecting  his  money  the  next  time  he 
comes  around;  I  could  kill  the  rascal  that  picked 
my  pocket !" 

In  sympathy  for  her  poor,  distressed  husband 
sitting  there,  seemingly  overwhelmed  with  grief, 
the  wife  says :  "It  was  only  five  dollars,  let  us  be 
thankful  it  was  no  more.  Other  people  have  had 
their  pockets  picked  the  same  v/ay  yours  was 
picked,  and  some  of  them  lost  more  than  you  did." 
And  then  the  barefooted  children,  to  help  soothe 
the  father  who  seems  almost  heart-broken,  because, 
on  account  of  the  loss  of  his  five  dollars,  he  can't 
buy  them  any  shoes,  chime  in  with  their  cherry 
voices  saying:  "Papa,  don't  grieve  so;  we  can  go 
barefooted  a  little  while  longer." 


140  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

The  husband  and  father  raises  his  head,  grinning 
like  a  'possum,  as  he  puts  on  an  air  of  resignation, 
and  savs :  ^'I  do  reckon  I've  got  the  best  wife  and 
children  of  any  poor  man  in  the  world,"  and  with 
that  the  farce  ends.  Pretty  soon  they  are  sitting  at 
the  table  eating  their  scanty  supper,  and  all  is 
serene. 

Pocket  picked,  indeed!  If  you  could  have  seen 
that  fellow  a  few  hours  before,  standing  at  a  bar, 
the  central  figure  of  a  half  dozen  dead  beats,  w^ho 
lounge  around  bar-rooms,  and  could  have  heard  his 
boastings  and  seen  his  consequential  airs,  as  he 
waved  that  five-dollar  bill  and  ordered  the  bar- 
keeper to  put  down  the  best  he  had;  and,  if  you 
could  have  seen  that  half  dozen  dead  l3eats  rushing 
to  the  counter,  like  hogs  to  the  trough,  drinking  at 
his  expense,  you  would  not  have  felt  very  much 
like  shedding  tears  over  the  story  he  told  so  tragi- 
cally to  his  wife  and  children.  If  all  the  lies  hus- 
bands have  told  their  wives  about  losing  money 
could  be  traced  back  a  few  hours,  the  truth  would 
be:     "Spent  in  the  bar-room!'' 

Now,  I  see  in  the  papers  that  when  a  man  buys 
ar  the  dispensary  he  is  required  to  register,  and 
the  book  will  tell  when  he  bought  and  how  much, 
and  also  what  grade  of  liquor  he  treated  himself  to. 
But  as  I  understand  it,  the  register  is  not  to  be 
opened  to  the  public  gaze,  and  therefore  the  wife 
IS  still  at  a  disadvantage.  If  wives  could  go  weekly 
to  the  dispensary  and  glance  over  the  book,  and  see 
how  often  their  husbands'  names  appear,  and  for 
what  amounts,  they  could  sorter  keep  up  with  them. 
As  it  is,  however,  it  is  likely  there  will  be  a  saving, 
as  the  fellow  with  a  five-dollar  bill  will  not  be 
so  apt  to  spend  so  much  of  it,  buying  a  pint  or  half 
a  pint,  and  drinking  it  behind  a  lamp-post,  or  in  an 
alley,  as  he  would  in  a  bar-room,  with  a  crowd  of 
dead-beats  to  help  him.     And  what  makes  it  still 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  141 

better,  the  drinking  man,  as  arrangements  are  now, 
can  post  up  his  drinking  accounts  weekly  and 
monthly,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  may 
know  exactly  how  it  stands.  That  will  be  a  great 
advantage.  '^Men  who  tipple  at  the  bar  don't  keep 
any  account  of  their  spendings,  therefore  they  are 
not  able  to  properly  balance  their  books.  In  fact, 
the  books  won't  balance.  Money  is  short  which 
can  not  be  accounted  for.  But  now  when  balanc- 
ing the  year  book,  and  there  is  a  deficit,  the  drinker 
can  go  to  the  dispensary,  look  at  the  register  and 
find  the  explanation :  twenty-five,  fifty,  seventy-five 
or  a  hundred  dollars  spent  for  liquor,  will  tell  the 
tale  of  shortage. 

Men  are  apt  to  keep  pretty  well  posted  as  to  the 
amounts  they  pay  the  preacher  and  for  church  pur- 
poses ;  they  keep  a  little  book  for  that  purpose,  and 
are  very  careful  to  put  it  all  down ;  hwf  not  so  about 
whiskey.  The  little  they  spend  in  that  direction  is 
s=r  insignificant  they  don't  think  it  worth  while  to 
keep  an  account  of  it. 

As  an  illustration,  I  will  give  an  incident.  Some 
years  ago  I  bought  a  load  of  shingles  of  a  country 
man,  and  after  agreeing  upon  the  price,  he  asked 
me  to  take  a  seat  beside  him  on  the  wagon  and  ride 
to  my  house.  I  did  so,  and  discovered,  as  soon  as 
I  got  a  whiff  of  his  breath,  that  he  had  taken  a 
dram.  Being  in  the  temperance  work,  and  wishing 
to  do  individuals  as  well  as  communities  good,  I 
remarked  in  a  casual  way  that  I  was  a  temperance 
man  and  was  organizing  societies  and  that  I  would 
like  to  organize  in  his  community  and  hoped  he 
would  help  me  to  do  so.  He  said  in  reply  he  was  a 
member  of  the  church,  and  the  church  was  a  good 
enough  temperance  society  for  him.  I  said,  by  way 
of  reply,  church  members  sometimes  drink,  and  a 
total  abstinence  society  might  do  them  good;  be- 
sides, I  went  on  to  say,  we  church  members  are,  ac- 


142  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

cording  to  the  statement  of  Christ,  the  light  of  the 
world,  and  we  ought  to  be  total  abstainers,  for  the 
same  reason  that  Paul  gave  when  he  said :  "If  meat 
make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while 
the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to 
offend/'  In  repiy  he  said,  'Taul  talked  two  ways, 
for  didn't  he  tell  Timothy  to  take  a  little  wine  for 
his  stomach's  sake?  I  don't  eat  hog  meat  because 
it  don't  agree  with  me,  but  I  do  take  a  dram  when 
I  feel  like  it,  and  it's  nobody's  business.  I  work 
for  my  living,  and  make  my  own  money,  and  spend 
it  just  like  I  please,  and  I  let  other  people's  busi- 
ness alone.  If  they  are  a  mind  to  drink,  and  get 
drunk  because  I  take  a  dram,  when  I  feel  like  it, 
it's  nothing  to  me.  Every  tub  must  stand  on  its 
own  bottom;  that's  my  doctrine." 

"You  make  your  money  and  spend  it  as  you 
please,"  I  remarked,  "and  of  course  you  pay  most 
for  that  you  like  best — and  besides,  you  like  to  get 
the  worth  of  3^our  money  Avhen  you  pay  it  out?" 

"Yes,  that's  my  rule,  and  that's  what  I  practice," 

"You  told  me  you  were  a  church  member.  Of 
course  you  pay  your  preacher." 

"O,  yes,  I  always  pay  him ;  I  pay  a  dollar  for  my- 
self and  fifty  cents  for  the  old  woman." 

"Pretty  good,"  I  remarked.  "I  have  seen  the 
statement,"  I  went  on,  "that  sixty-six  and  two- 
thirds  cents  is  about  the  average  which  the  people 
of  the  United  States  pay  for  having  the  gospel 
preached." 

"They  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  themselves,"  he 
said,  brightening  up  and  looking  pious. 

"You  are  right,"  I  said,  "and  I  am  glad  to  know 
that  you  and  the  ^old  'oman'  are  paying  more  than 
the  average,  if  you  do  take  a  drink  now  and  then." 

"What  little  I  drink  don't  cost  anything  hardly; 
for  I  never  drink  at  home,  and  only  take  one  drink 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  143 

when  I  come  to  town,  and  don't  come  to  town  but 
three  times  a  week;  that  don't  cost  much  and  won't 
hurt  anybody." 

'^Oh,  no,"  I  answered,  "that  don't  cost  much, 
unless  you  pay  very  high  for  your  drinks." 

"I  always  pay  ten  cents,  for  I  believe  when  one 
does  drink  at  all  he  ought  to  drink  pure  liquor, 
and  not  poison  his  stomach  with  cheap  stuff." 

I  told  him  he  w^as  right  about  that,  and  if  I  ever 
got  to  taking  my  drams,  I  thought  I  would  do  like 
him,  take  the  best.  Then  taking  up  a  shingle  I 
made  this  calculation :  Three  drinks  a  week  at  10 
cents  per  drink  are  equal  to  thirty  cents,  and  thirty 
cents  a  week  are  equal  to  fifteen  dollars  and  sixty 
cents  a  year.  And  subtracting  one  dollar  and  fifty 
cents  from  fifteen  dollars  and  sixty  cents  I  found 
that  he  was  paying  fourteen  dollars  and  ten  cents 
a  year  more  for  whiskey  than  he  said,  he  and  the 
"old  'oman"  were  paying  the  preacher,  and  that  if 
he  should  pay  the  same  amounts  for  fifty  years  he 
would  in  that  time  pay  out  for  whiskey  seven  hun- 
dred and  eighty  dollars,  while  he  and  the  "old 
'oman"  would  pay  the  preacher,  for  the  same  length 
of  time,  only  seventy-five  dollars. 

"You  needn't  be  figuring,"  he  said,  seeing  me  us- 
ing my  pencil ;  "three  thousand  shingles  at  |2.50  a 
thousand  comes  to  $7.50,  and  you  can't  make  noth- 
iug  more  of  it,  if  you  figure  all  day." 

"I'm  not  figuring  on  shingles,  but  how  the  ac- 
count is  going  to  stand  against  you  at  the  day  of 
judgment,"  I  said;  "and  I  tell  you,  my  friend,  the 
thing  looks  bad." 

"Why?     How?"  he  asked. 

"In  the  first  place,"  said  I,  "I  find  you  love  whis- 
key better  than  you  do  your  preacher." 

"It  ain't  so,"  he  replied. 

"Didn't  you  tell  me  awhile  ago  that  you  paid 
most  for  that  you  liked  best?" 


144  AYHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

"I  believe  I  did.     If  I  didn't,  I'll  say  it  now.'' 

^^All  right.  I  find  that  you  and  the  ^old  'oman' 
pay  the  preacher  fl.oO  a  year,  while  you  in  the  same 
time,  pay  for  whiskey  |15.60,  which  is  ?14.10  more 
for  whiskey  than  you  pay  for  the  gospel.  I  find 
also  that  you  and  the  ^old  'oman'  will  only  pay  |T5 
to  the  preacher  in  fifty  years,  while  you  alone  will 
pay  out  1780.00  for  whiske3\  The  recording  angel 
ifj  keeping  the  account  just  as  it  is,  giving  you  credit 
for  all  you  pay  for  the  spreading  of  the  gospel,  and 
charging  you  with  all  you  spend  for  self-gratifica- 
tion. What  do  you  reckon  you'll  do  when  the  Judge 
opens  the  book  and  reads  out,  right  before  the  an- 
gels and  the  assembled  world,  as  follows :  'Bill 
Mitchell,  member  of  the  church,  paid  for  himself 
and  wife  to  support  the  gospel  |75.00,  being  |1.50 
a  year.'  Then  turning  to  the  other  page  he'll  read 
out,  ^Bill  Mitchell,  so-called  member  of  the  church, 
paid  out  in  fifty  years  |780.00  in  support  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  which  is  the  agent  of  the  devil,  being 
§705.00  more  to  support  the  devil's  cause  than  he 
paid  to  build  up  the  Lord's  cause.'  I  say,  what  do 
you  think  you  will  do,  when  the  account  is  read  out 
that  way?" 

"I  don't  know  what  I'll  do,  but  I  suppose  I'll 
have  to  pick  up  my  hat  and  walk  right  down  to  the 
other  place.  But  look  here,  I  didn't  know  the 
thing  was  as  bad  against  me  as  that,  upon  my  honor 
I  didn't." 

^The  reason  you  didn't  know  how  the  matter 
stood,"  I  said,  as  we  drove  into  the  yard,  "is  because 
you  keep  no  account  against  yourself  like  you  do 
against  God." 

And  that's  the  mistake  too  many  of  us  make; 
we  magnify  the  little  that  we  do  and  give  to  make 
the  world  better,  and  thereby  to  glorify  God,  while 
we  minify,  if  we  do  not  entirely  forget,  what  God 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  145 

does  for  us,  and  especially  the  claims  which  he  has 
upon  us. 

Yes,  I  like  the  idea  of  making  people  register 
when  they  buy  liquor  at  the  dispensary.  But  I 
heard  a  man  say,  the  other  day,  that  he  would  quit 
drinking  before  he  would  put  his  name  on  the  liquor 
register ;  he  didn't  want  Gabriel  to  find  his  name  in 
such  a  place  as  that,  and  w^ouldn't  put  it  there. 

Come  to  think  about  it,  I  am  really  glad  that 
the  bar-room  business  is  passing  away,  for  it  Avill 
do  away  with  a  servitude  that  I  don't  see  how  any 
young  man  could  stand,  to-wit,  handing  out  decan- 
ters to  and  washing  tumblers  after  all  sorts  of 
drinking  men,  Avhite  and  colored.  Don't  seem  to 
me  a  fellow  engaged  in  the  tumbler-washing  busi- 
ness could  have  a  very  high  opinion  of  himself. 
And  then  c'.  man  can  never  know  when  he  is  selling 
the  fatal  drink  to  a  customer — the  drink  that  will 
make  him  drunk  and  send  him  home  to  murder  wife 
or  child — the  drink  that  will  ruin  him  for  time  and 
send  his  soul  to  hell.  I  don't  think  I  could  sleep 
well  after  selling  liquor  all  day.  Bat  some  people 
don't  seem  to  have  any  scruples  about  it,  and  they 
are  very  clever,  too,  and  are  expecting  to  get  to 
heaven  like  other  folks.  It  is  so  hard  to  get  to 
heaven,  I'd  rather  n(.t  make  the  chances  worse, 
and  perhaps  block  the  way  so  that  I  can  not  make 
the  journey  at  all. 

The  golden  rule  is  a  hard,  mighty  hard  thing  to 
dodge,  turn  it  as  we  may,  and  yet  we  understand  that 
vU  of  earth's  dealings  are  to  be  settled  by  it.  If  I 
would  not  have  a  man  ruin  my  son  by  selling  him 
liquor  and  making  him  a  drunkard,  that  rule  says 
I  must  not  ruin  his  son.  If  I  would  not  have  a  man 
cheat  me,  or  take  advantage  of  me,  in  a  horse  trade, 
I  must  not  cheat  or  take  advantage  of  him.  The 
golden  rule  being  the  foundation  upon  which  relig- 

10 


146  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

ion  is  based,  no  man  is  nor  can  be  a  Christian  and 
get  to  heaven  who  disregards  it.  And,  it  seems  to 
me,  the  first  thing  I'd  have  to  do  if  I  were  going 
into  the  liquor  business,  would  be  to  cut  the  golden 
rule  out  of  my  Bible. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Bad  Boads — Jonas  Medlin  at  Barbecues — Some  of 
Eis  GliaraGteristics  —  The  Great  Changes  — 
Ministerial  Professionals. 

As  I  ride  down  Fayetteville  street,  in  the  dead  of 
winter,  and  see  but  little  mud,  and  go  out  into  the 
country  and  find  myself  on  good  hard  roads,  my 
mind  goes  back  to  other  winters  when  a  ride  down 
Fayetteyille  street,  and  into  the  country,  was  about 
like  driving  through  a  brick  hole  flooded  with  wa- 
ter. The  old-time  stages  v/hich  carried  the  mails, 
and  the  old-time  wagons  that  hauled  the  heav}^  gro- 
ceries from  Fayetteville  to  Raleigh,  generally  tore 
up  the  road  beds,  during  the  winters,  and  the  streets 
of  Raleigh  were  often  as  bad  as  the  country  roads. 
Fayetteville  street,  all  through  the  winter,  was  a 
loblolly,  and  could  be  crossed  at  only  certain  places, 
by  pedestrians;  and  even  at  those  places  travelers 
did  not  always  find  it  easy  to  cross  v/ithout  getting 
more  or  less  muddy.  They  used  to  tell  wonderful 
stories  as  to  the  depth  of  the  mud  on  the  roads,  one 
of  which  I  will  relate,  not  vouching  for  its  truth,  of 
course.  It  was  told  by  a  wood  hauler  who  man- 
aged to  get  into  the  city,  with  a  four-horse  team, 
bringing  less  than  half  a  cord  of  wood.  Driver, 
wagon,  wood  and  horses  were  all  covered  with  red 
mud,  presenting,  as  they  appeared  on  the  street  a 
most  ludicrous  picture.     "How  are  the  roads  out 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  147 

in  the  country?''  asked  a  Raleigh  man  of  the  wood 
hauler. 

"There  ain't  no  roads,"  he  replied. 

"How  did  you  get  here,  then,  with  your  load  of 
wood?"  the  Raleigh  man  asked. 

"We  s^\aim;  didn't  try  to  tech  the  bottom,  for 
there  ain't  no  bottom.  My  horses  are  all  good 
swimmers,  or  I'd  never  got  here.  The  road  is  full  of 
wagons  and  drivers  between  here  and  Lawrence 
Hinton's  that  are  sunk  clean  out  of  sight.  I  saw  a 
hat  on  top  of  the  mud  and  picked  it  up.  A  fellow 
down  in  the  mud,  under  that  hat,  told  me  he  was 
setting  on  top  of  his  load  of  wood  and  his  wagon 
was  still  sinking  in  the  mud.  No,  there  ain't  no 
roads;  but,  if  a  fellow's  horses  can  swim  pretty 
well  they  can  make  the  trip,  provided  they  keep 
agoin' ;  but  if  a  team  ever  stops,  its  good-bye,  vain 
world." 

"Did  you  leave  the  fellow  down  under  the  mud?" 
one  asked. 

"Yes,"  said  the  wood  hauler ;  "but  I  told  him  the 
road  hands  would  dig  him  out  next  spring;  and  he 
said,  all  right." 

While  all  of  that  talk  was  a  story  well  told,  it, 
nevertheless,  was  tru^e  to  the  extent  of  giving  the 
reader  an  idea  of  the  terrible  condition  of  our  roads, 
before  better  methods  of  working  them  were  em- 
ployed. What  a  pleasure  it  is  now  to  take  a  drive 
out  to  Wakefield,  for  instance,  as  compared  with 
other  days  when  one  had  to  split  the  mud  nearly  all 
the  way.  Good  roads  are  blessings  to  man  and 
beast,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that,  in  almost  every 
section  of  our  State,  the  road  question  stands  next 
in  importance  to  education. 

Jonas  Medlin  was  a  character  of  the  ante-bellum 
times  that  figured  largely  at  certain  times  and  in 
certain  places.  He  called  himself  the  "Grovernor  of 
Rhamkatte,"  and  in  his   opinion  he  was,   in  his 


148  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

sphere,  as  big  a  man  as  the  governor  of  the  State. 
He  came  to  town  nearly  every  day,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  ^^Mrs.  Medlin,''  as  he  called  his  wife,  came 
Tsith  him.  He  was  so  well  known  that  almost  every- 
body had  something  to  say  to  him,  and,  of  course, 
such  attention  made  him  feel  his  importance.  Jonas 
claimed  to  be  a  Democrat,  but  he  and  Mrs.  Medlin 
were  both  of  the  opinion  that  Whig  barbecue  was 
just  as  good  as  Democratic  barbecue,  and  to  save 
his  life,  Jonas  said  he  couldn't  tell  any  difference 
between  Whig  whiskey  and  Democratic  whiskey. 
He  said  he  never  saw  any  bad  whiskey.  Some  was 
good  and  some  better;  but  none  bad.  During  a 
campaign,  one  summer,  both  parties  had  big  barbe- 
cues, a  few  weeks  apart,  and  Jonas,  as  well  as  Mrs. 
Medlin,  attended  them.  The  Whig  barbecue  came 
off  first,  and  no  man  ate  more  and  carried  off  more 
ham  and  barbecue,  in  his  basket,  than  did  Jonas; 
and  no  man  cheered  more  lustily  the  speeches  that 
the  Whigs  made,  abusing  the  Democrats,  than  did 
he. 

A  few  weeks  after,  the  Democratic  barbecue  was 
tc  come  off,  in  the  old  Baptist  grove,  and  it  was 
understood  that  John  Hutchings,  Esq.,  the  grand- 
father of  our  very  popular  Superior  Court  clerk, 
was  to  have  the  management  of  it.  Jonas  sought 
out  Mr.  Hutchings,  and  lost  no  time  in  telling  him 
what  a  good  hand  he  was  at  barbecues,  and  how 
handy  "Mrs.  Medlin''  could  make  herself;  and  how 
glad  they'd  both  be  to  help  the  Democrats  get  ahead 
of  the  Whigs.  And  sure  enough  ( for  how  could  he 
help  doing  so?)  Mr.  Hutchings  asked  the  governor 
to  come  in,  early,  on  the  appointed  day,  and  assist 
him.  And  a  great  day  it  was  for  him  and  his  wife, 
and  the  many  children  and  friends  they  brought 
with  them.  Mr.  Hutchings  soon  found  out  that 
provisions  were  getting  scarce,  down  at  the  end  of 
the  table  where  Jonas  was  helping.     A  tray  of  bar- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  149 

becue  was  gone,  and  a  dish  of  ham  and  one  of  chick- 
en had  disappeared;  but,  the  matter  was  soon  ex- 
plained. Jonas  had  turned  his  attention  to  ^^Mrs, 
Medlin''  and  her  many  friends  who,  squatting 
around  the  roots  of  a  big  oak,  were  having  a  good 
time.  Enough  barbecue  and  othet*  meats,  and 
enough  bread  and  biscuits  to  matcJi,  were  spread 
before  them  to  feed  fifty  people.  Mr.  Hutchings, 
taking  in  the  situation,  said:  "Jonas,  I  left  you 
here  to  look  after  this  end  of  the  table,  and  you 
have  taken  almost  everything  off  and  piled  it 
around  the  root  of  that  tree.'' 

Putting  on  an  injured  air,  and  speaking  loud 
enough  for  everybody  in  that  vicinity  to  hear  him, 
he  said :  "Drot  a  man  as  won't  wait  on  the  ladies." 
Mr.  Hutchings  only  said :  "I'll  see  that  you  don't 
get  anything  more  from  this  table  to  wait  on  'em 
with";  and  he  took  a  position  where  he  could  cut 
Jonas  off  from  the  table.  But  Jonas  flanked  him; 
for  a  little  Avhile  after,  Mr.  Hutchings  saw  him 
coming  down  from  the  other  end  of  the  table  with 
a  basket  full  of  meat  and  bread,  going  in  the  direc- 
tion of  "  Mrs.  Mediin"  and  her  friends,  but  he  said 
nothing  to  him.  The  baskets  of  fragments  with 
which  Jonas  and  his  friends  walked  off,  after  the 
table  was  cleared,  ought  to  have  lasted  them  for  a 
v/eek. 

On  one  occasion  Jonas  was  lying  on  the  railroad 
track,  drunk,  just  ?.bove  the  penitentiary.  The  en- 
gineer happened  to  see  him  in  time  to  stop  his  en- 
gine just  before  it  go  to  him.  Getting  down  and 
going  to  Jonas,  he  said:  "Get  up,  you  drunken 
wretch.  What  would  you  have  looked  like  if  my 
engine  had  run  over  you?"  He  answered  by  say- 
ing: ^And  what  would  your  dinged  old  engine  'a 
hoked  like  if  I'd  a  ruii'over  hit?  That's  what  I 
want  to  know."  And  staggering  back  into  the 
ditch  and  running  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  as  if  to 


150  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

pull  out  liii>  money,  he  asked,  "What's  the  damage, 
Mister?  If  I've  hurt  your  old  train  I'm  willing  to 
pay  for  it." 

Jonas  was  a  good-natured  fellow,  and  while  ho 
would  take  too  much  whiskey  at  political  gather- 
ings, and  hurrah  for  the  man  that  set  up  the  treat, 
he  always  "voted  tight,''  he  declared,  "  'cause  ho 
Toted  just  like  Sheriff  High  told  him." 

Speaking  of  Sheriff  High  brings  up  other  mem- 
Oj'ies,  one  of  which  is  the  old  jail,  built  of  logs 
partly,  if  not  entirely,  that  used  to  stand  where 
fhe  present  jail  is.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  W.  H. 
High,  Esq.,  was  acting  as  deputy  to  Sheriff  Ed- 
wards, away  back  in  the  forties,  and  succeeded  him 
as  sheriff.  At  any  rate,  I  remember  the  old  log 
jail,  when  "Jim  Edwards"  was  sheriff,  and  I  re- 
member that,  in  course  of  time,  the  old  jail  gave 
place  to  the  new  one,  and  that  W.  H.  High,  Esq., 
then  a  handsome  and  very  popular  young  man, 
became  the  sheriff  of  Wake,  which  position  he  held, 
I  think,  up  to  the  war,  if  not  through  the  war  and 
after.  No  man  could  beat  him  before  the  people. 
After  the  war  he  removed  to  California  and  re- 
mained for  awhile ;  but  came  back  to  Ealeigh,  where 
he  spent  his  last  days  with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Roys- 
ter,  whose  husband  runs  the  well-known  candy  es- 
tablishment of  A.  D.  Royster  &  Co.  As  a  cam- 
paigner, Sheriff  High  had  no  superior,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  Sheriff  Kearney,  of  Franklin  Coun- 
ty, who  has  been  in  office  for  upwards  of  twenty 
years,  and  is  good  for  twenty  more,  Sheriff  High 
held  office  longer  than  most  sheriffs  do.  James  T. 
Marriott,  Esq.,  for  a  long  time  clerk  of  Wake 
County  Court,  married  Sheriff  High's  sister,  who, 
after  the  death  of  her  husband,  married  George 
W.  Norwood,  Esq.,  whose  son  is  a  resident  of  this 
city.  Oh,  the  changes  that  have  taken  place  since 
the  days  of  which  I  am  writing!     One  must  have 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  151 

lived  in  tlie  '^Olcl  Time  South"  to  know  what  it  was, 
and  to  realize  the  changes  which  the  last  forty 
years  have  wrought.  To  my  mind,  the  difference 
between,  before  the  war  and  since  the  war,  is  quite 
as  great  as  living  in  two  countries  speaking  differ- 
ent languages  and  engaging  in  different  pursuits. 
Ti'ue,  we  have  the  same  country  and  very  largely 
the  same  people,  but  how  changed  are  both!  If 
one  who  died  before  the  war  could  come  forth  from 
the  grave  and  walk  about  and  look  and  listen  for 
awhile,  he  would  come  to  the  conclusion  he  had 
waked  up  in  the  Avrong  place ;  for,  while  he  would 
sre  many  things  he  remembered,  and  hear  a  great 
many  voices  that  would  sound  natural,  he  would 
see  and  hear  so  much  he  had  never  seen,  heard  or 
dreamt  of  in  the  old  time;  the  great  improvements 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  changes  in  manners  and 
customs  on  the  other  hand,  he  could  come  to  no 
other  conclusion  than  that  he  had  resurrected  in 
the  wrong  country. 

In  the  old-time  South  there  were  rich  people  and 
poor  people,  slave  owners  and  non-slave  owners, 
but  not  that  exclusiveness  seen  and  felt  now. 
Neighbors  were  neighbors ;  and  a  rich  man's  neigh- 
bors, who  helped  him  to  shuck  corn  or  to  roll  logs, 
viere  invited  to  his  feasts,  and  made  to  feel  that 
they  were  as  welcome  as  if  they  owned  land  and 
negroes,  however  poor  they  might  be.  Money  did 
not  make  the  man,  but  true  manhood  and  woman- 
hood stood  for  themselves  and  were  at  a  premium. 

Money  is  everything  now — respectability,  moral- 
ity, social,  political  and  even  ecclesiastical  stand- 
ing. Commercialism  is  seen  and  felt  in  everything 
and  everywhere.  Even  a  man's  opinion  is  rated 
according  to  the  size  of  his  bank  account;  and 
everybody  knows  how  transcendentally  high  a  mon- 
eyed man  stands  in  the  church,  especially  if  he 
donates  liberally   toward   the  endowment   of   col- 


152  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

leges.  It  makes  no  difference  how  many  poor  men 
he  has  oppressed,  how  many  have  been  impover- 
ished, by  him,  in  the  accumulation  of  his  great 
wealth,  if  he  is  liberal,  now  and  then,  with  his 
bJood  money,  he  is  looked  up  to  and  praised  by  men 
who  are  preaching — or  ought  to  be  preaching — 
against  the  sin  of  covetousness,  and  those  hard- 
h'.'arted  methods  ^vhich  make  millionaires  at  the 
expense  of  the  hard-working  poor.  Yes,  commer- 
cialism— love  of  Avealth — is  even  getting  into  the 
church. 

This  was  not  so  in  the  old-time  South.  Why  and 
how  this  great  change?  We  know  that  up  North, 
ever  since  they  sold  their  slaves  to  the  Southern 
people  and  became  rich  on  negro  money,  they  have 
been  trying  to  ape  the  aristocracy  of  the  old  world, 
and  that  during  the  war,  not  being  satisfied  with 
the  fortunes  they  had  made  by  this  sale  of  their 
negroes  to  Southern  people,  they  became  army  con- 
tractors and  swindled  Uncle  Sam  out  of  enough  to 
swell  their  negro  money  into  making  themselves 
millionaires;  and  that  being  done  they  dethroned 
manhood  and  womanhood  and  enthroned  the  dollar. 
Is  it  true  that  the  South — the  old-time,  high-mind- 
ed, honest,  conservative  South,  is  trying  to  ape 
New  England  as  New  England  is  aping  the  com- 
mercialism of  old  England?  This  may  account  for 
the  changes  that  have  come  over  us,  and  explain 
why  we  rate  men  and  women  according  to  what 
they  have,  and  not  according  to  ^\lmt  they  are 
socially  and  religiously.  And  it  is  this  condition 
of  things  that  makes  men  desperate  in  tlieir  eager- 
ness to  get  rich. 

I  wish  to  remark  that  when  preaching  has  been 
made  a  science  and  ranks  as  a  profession,  and  the 
style  of  preaching  has  been  so  changed  that  any 
topic  may  be  discussed  from  the  pulpit,  the  profes- 
sional preacher  may  be  quite  as  successful  in  win- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  153 

njng  fame,  as  any  other  professional.  In  fact,  I 
don't  know  but  what  the  preacher  will  have  the 
shortest  and  easiest  road  to  success,  He  has  but 
one  book  to  study,  from  which  to  select  topics; 
v/hereas,  in  other  professions,  many  and  some  very 
hard  to  be  understood,  books  have  to  be  mastered. 

I  don't  think  there  are  many  ministerial  profes- 
sionals down  South,  as  yet;  but  the  day  is  coming 
when  we  may  expect  that  they  will  make  their 
appearance.  Novv  and  then  one  has  sprung  up, 
but  he  soon  went  North,  where  his  professional  ser- 
vices would  command  better  pay,  and  where  greater 
latitude  is  allowed  in  the  pulpit.  Almost  any 
piney-woods  rooter,  with  an  ordinary  education, 
hailing  from  the  South,  can  make  a  reputation  up 
North,  if  he  will  descend  to  the  low  business  of  be- 
littling his  kin-folks  down  here,  and  of  praising 
and  admiring  the  superiority  of  that  Puritanism 
which,  like  Phariseeism,  has  never  been  able  to  see 
any  good  only  in  itself.  Some  year.s  ago  a  North 
Carolina  preacher  went  as  a  fraternal  messenger  to 
a  Northern  convention  or  conference,  of  his  denom- 
ination, and  in  the  address  he  made  before  that 
Northern  conference,  he  slopped  over  in  his  praises 
of  the  North,  its  institutions  and  its  general  superi- 
ority over  the  South;  while,  he  humbly  acknowl- 
edged, as  true,  many  things  which  had  been  un- 
tvuthfully  charged  against  the  South.  The  conse- 
quence was  he  received  a  call  to  a  church  away  up 
in  the  cold  regions.  He  came  back  home  after 
awhile — after  he  had  lived  among  and  found  out 
more  about  a  people  he  supposed  wer^i  our  superiors 
—  but  his  brethren  have  never  thought  as  well  of 
him,  as  they  did  before  he  went  off  in  a  wild-goose 
chase  after  a  little  notoriety. 

As  an  illustration  of  what  I  mean  by  professional 
preachers,  I  Avill  relate  a  circumstance. 


154  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Soon  after  the  war,  a  Northern  local  Methodist 
preacher  spent  a  year  in  Raleigh,  and  some  time, 
during  the  year  he  attended  the  Raleigh  District 
Conference.  A  few  days  after,  he  came  to  my  office, 
and  the  Conference  matters,  he  had  witnessed,  were 
discussed.  I  asked  him  which  of  the  preachers 
preached,  and  what  he  thought  of  their  preaching. 

"Aw,  well,"  he  said,  "Aw,  yes,  as  to  matter  they 
preached  well  enough,  but  as  to  manner,  aw,  I — 
well — I  must  say  it  was  horwibul.  They  don't 
seem,  aw,  to  have  any  ideah  of  elocution." 

"They  seemed  to  have  a  pretty  fair  knowledge 
or  the  Bible,  did  they  not?"  I  asked. 

"Well — aw — I  guess  so.  But,  aw,  you  know, 
aw,  it  is  not  so — aw,  essential,  in  pi'eaching,  what 
a  man  says,  as  how  he  says  it.  For  instance,  aw, 
I  had  a  cousin,  a  blacksmith,  who  decided,  aw,  to 
enter  the  ministerial  profession.  He  did  not  think 
of  wasting  his  time  at  any  theological  institute, 
av/,  but,  aw,  very  sensibly  put  himself  under  the 
tuition  and  elocutionary  training  of  a  retired  actor, 
and,  aw — yes — in  less  than  a  year  ]ie  was  able  to 
command  a  salary  of  two  thousand  dollars.  It'^ 
not — aw,  brother — what  a  preacher  says,  but  how 
he  says  it." 

I  think  he  was  mistaken.  "What  he  says  and 
how  he  says  it"  are  equally  essential. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  155 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Dr.  Cortland  Myers — ^' Old  John  Broivn/^  and 
What  Judge  Douglas  said  of  Him — Freedman's 
Bureau — Forty  Acres  and  a  Mule — A  Negro's 
Deed  to  His  Land. 

In  an  address  before  a  convention  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  Washington  City, 
delivered  by  Eev.  Cortland  Myers,  D.D.,  a  Brook- 
lyn divine,  a  few  weeks  ago,  his  subject  being  "The 
Men  of  Destiny,"  he  is  reported  as  having  said, 
"All  men  fulfill  their  destiny  when  they  do  their 
duty,"  and  gave  John  Brown  as  an  illustration  of 
one  man  who  fulfilled  his  destiny  by  doing  his  duty. 

Who  was  John  Brown,  and  what  duty  did  he 
perform  ? 

In  the  estimation  of  Dr.  Myers,  he  was,  of  course, 
a  very  great  and  good  man,  who  fulfilled  his  destiny 
by  doing  some  great  and  good  deed,  or  else  he 
would  not  have  used  him  as  an  illustration.  Did 
John  Brown  fulfill  a  destiny  by  doing  a  duty?  is 
the  question  the  reader  would  like  to  have  an- 
swered. And  the  answer  to  that  question  must  be 
in  accord  with  the  facts  of  history,  and  not  warped 
by  prejudice  or  sentiment. 

Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  a  Northern  man, 
and  was  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  history  of 
the  Kansas  troubles  and  the  John  Brown  raid,  and 
I  will  let  him  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  matter 
as  he  saw  it. 

In  a  speech  delivered  by  him  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  January  23,  1860,  favoring  a  resolution  in- 
structing the  Judiciary  Committee  to  report  a  bill 
for  the  protection  of  States  and  Territories  against 
invasion,  Judge  Douglas  said  in  effect  that  John 


156  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Brown  was  a  desperate  character.  Referring  to 
Brown  and  his  associates,  he  asks : 

"Who,  until  the  Harper's  Ferry  outrage,  ever 
conceived  that  American  citizens  could  be  so  for- 
getful of  their  duties  to  themselves,  to  their  coun- 
try and  to  the  Constitution  as  to  plan  the  invasion 
Gi  another  State,  with  the  view  of  inciting  servile 
insurrection,  murder,  treason,  and  every  other 
crime  that  disgraces  humanity?'' 

John  Brown  was  the  man  to  whom  Judge  Dou- 
glas referred — the  man  who  "planned  the  invasion 
or  another  State,  with  the  view  of  inciting  IN- 
SURRECTION, MURDER,  TREASON,  AND 
EVERY  OTHER  CRIME  THAT  DISGRACES 
HUMANITY." 

Again,  Judge  Douglas  said :  "We  have  been  told 
that  a  notorious  man  (John  Brown),  who  has  re- 
cently suffered  death  for  his  crimes  upon  the  gal- 
lows, boasted  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  a  public  lec- 
ture, a  year  ago,  that  he  then  had  a  body  of  men 
einployed  in  running  away  horses  from  the  slave- 
holders of  Missouri,  and  pointed  to  a  stable  in 
Cleveland  which  was  full  of  stolen  horses  at  that 
time." 

John  Brown,  then,  according  to  Judge  Douglas, 
was  a  wholesale  horse  thief,  in  addition  to  planning 
and  trying  to  put  into  execution  "insurrection,  mur- 
der, treason  and  every  other  crime  that  disgraces 
humanity." 

And  this  is  the  man  that  Dr.  Cv^rtland  Myers 
wuld  hold  up  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  x\sso- 
Ciation  as  an  example  of  the  "fulfillment  of  destiny 
in  the  performance  of  duty."  The  question  very 
naturally  arises,  what  duty  performed  by  "Old 
John"  fulfilled  destiny?  Invading  another  State, 
stealing  horses,  or  pulling  a  rope?  His  last  act 
^\'as  on  a  tight  rope,  and  Judge  Douglas  said  he 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  157 

suffered  death  lor  HIS  CKIMES,  insurrection,  mur- 
der, treason,  etc. 

I  would  suogest  to  Dr.  Cortland  Myers  that  a 
better  illustration  of  the  fulfillment  of  destiny 
would  be  Judas  Iscariot;  for,  while  he  was  not 
charged  with  as  many  bad  things  as  Judge  Douglas 
brings  against  John  Brown  (all  of  which  were 
true),  Judas  was  gentleman  enough  t^  acknowledge 
his  wickedness  and,  to  save  expenses,  went  and 
hanged  himself;  whereas,  John  Brown  gloried  m 
his  murderous  and  treasonable  intent,  and  threw 
tbe  cost  of  his  hanging  on  the  State  he  invaded. 
Judas  Iscariot  did  not  intend,  nor  did  he  expect, 
when  he  betrayed,  to  the  Chief  Priest,  the  where- 
abouts of  Jesus,  to  procure  his  death;  that  was 
farthest  from  his  thoughts;  for,  when  he  saw  the 
mischief  he  had  done,  he  was  so  sorry  for  his  act 
tbat  he  went  and  hanged  himself.  But  John  Brown, 
Y.ith  seventeen  white  men  and  five  negroes,  started 
out  to  "incite  servile  insurrection,  murder,  treason, 
and  every  other  crime  that  disgraces  humanity," 
and  didn't  repent.  But  Judge  Douglas  said  he  died 
on  the  gallows  for  his  crimes. 

When  will  our  Northern  brethren  cease  trying 
to  pervert  history,  and  learn  to  tell  the  truth? 
John  Brown,  a  martyr  indeed!  If  so,  then  may 
e\ery  murderer  who  is  hanged  be  placed  in  the  cal- 
endar of  saints.  I  am  not  surprised  that  men  arose 
and  left  the  hall  the  other  night  when  Dr.  Myers 
was  eulogizing  the  old  horse  thief  and  murderer. 

When  the  war  ended  and  Yankee  troops  were 
straggling  all  through  the  South,  and  Freedman's 
Bureaus  were  set  up  in  all  the  towns,  we  had  an 
experience  that  proved  two  things:  First,  that 
the  average  Yankee  hated  the  whites  of  the  South ; 
second,  that  while  he  pretended  to  be  the  negro's 
special  friend,  he  would  take  from  him  as  soon  as 
he  would  from  a  white  man.     The  Freedman's  Bu- 


158  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

reau,  which  purported  to  be  a  sort  of  court  of  ad- 
justment of  misunderstandings  between  the  whites 
and  the  negroes,  was,  in  fact,  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  a  scheme  of  judicial  stealage.  Negroes  were 
given  to  understand  that  the  law  was  in  their 
favor,  and  it  was  their  right,  as  well  as  their  duty, 
to  bring  all  the  complaints  against  the  whites, 
they  could,  to  the  bureau,  and,  in  case  of  conyiction, 
the  informer,  the  negro  who  brought  the  complaint, 
would  share  in  the  money  which  the  white  defend- 
aiit  would  have  to  pay;  and  the  case  usually  went 
a<>ainst  the  white  man.  "You  catch  'em  and  bring 
'em  to  me,  and  I'll  skin  'em,"  was  about  the  way 
the  bureau  worked  it,  with  the  negro  informer.  Yes, 
it  was  a  money-making  business,  with  the  man 
running  the  bureau,  for  the  negroes  were  instructed 
to  bring  complaints  against  people  who  were  able 
to  pay  fines.  A  gentleman  might  be  eating  his 
breakfast,  feeling  that  all  was  right;  he  owed  no 
one;  and  no  one  had  ausrht  of  malice  toward  him, 
£is  he  had  none  against  any  one;  v/hen,  hark,  the 
door-bell  rings!  A  soldier  stands  on  the  thresh- 
hold  with  paper  in  hand;  the  gentleman  reads  it. 
He  is  ordered  to  be  at  the  headquarters  of  the 
Preedman's  Bureau  at  10  o'clock.  When  he  ar- 
rives, he  is  told  that  the  matter  against  him  is  of 
a  very  serious  nature,  and  that  clou(is  of  witnesses 
are  hovering  around  to  make  good  the  complaint. 
The  gentleman  knows  the  whole  thing  is  a  lie — a 
trumped-up  affair  to  extort  money  from  him,  but 
he  is  powerless.  He  shows  that  he  is  perplexed, 
that  he  is  outraged. 

The  officer,  pretending  to  sympathize  with  him, 
deplores  the  business  he  is  in,  and  would  make  the 
gentleman  believe  that  he  almost  despises  the  gov- 
ernment which  requires  him  to  distress  people. 
"But,"  speaking  very  softly  to  the  gentleman  he 
says,  "you  see  how  it  is;  I  can't  help  myself;  I  am 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  159 

bound  to  hear  and  adjudicate  these  complaints, 
however  distasteful  the  duty  may  be.  If  you  will, 
however,  allow  me  to  make  a  suggestion  to  you  as 
a  friend,  I  would,  were  I  in  your  placf,  compromise 
this  matter.  If  we  go  into  a  trial  with  all  these 
T\  itnesses  to  pay,  it  will  cost  you  not  less  than  fifty 
dollars.  Yes,  I  think,  if  I  were  joii,  I'd  compromise 
the  case." 

"How  much  will  it  take  to  compromise/'  the  gen- 
tleman inquires. 

The  officer  figures,  looks  at  the  wall,  and  figures 
again,  and  then  in  his  blandest  tone  of  voice  says: 
"It  will  only  cost  you,  if  compromised,  about 
twenty-four  dollars  and  ninety-nine  cents;  and  I 
make  this  suggestion  of  a  compromise  as  a  special 
favor  to  you." 

The  gentleman  hands  over  his  check  and  departs, 
knowing  that  he  has  been  held  up  and  robbed  of 
twenty-five  dollars.  It  is  probable  that  the  negro 
who  informed  against  him  received  twenty-five 
cents  as  his  share. 

"Forty  acres  and  a  mule"  were  all  the  go  with 
the  negroes  in  the  days  of  the  break  up,  while  the 
Yankees  were  here.  Word  got  out  somehow  that 
every  negro  w^ho  could  raise  and  pay  over  to  the 
"head  man"  of  the  Yankees,  ten  dollars  in  gold, 
silver  or  greenbacks,  would  be  entitled  to  forty 
acres  of  his  old  master's  land  and  a  mule.  Along 
would  come  a  Yankee  straggler,  and  seeing  a  negro 
man,  he  would  hail  him  and  enquire  if  he  had  gotten 
his  "forty  acres  and  a  mule  yet?"  Then  the  Yan- 
kee would  explain  to  him  how  the  government  was 
going  to  cut  up  and  divde  all  the  land,  and  give 
every  negro  man  who  could  raise  ten  dollars,  forty 
acres,  and  a  mule  to  plow.  "Of  course  you  can 
get  your  forty  acres,  if  you  can  raise  the  ten  dollars, 
and  I'll  be  along  here  to-morrow  and  stake  off  your 
farm  right  where  you  want  it,"  was  the  way  the 
Yankee  would  state  the  case  to  the  dupe. 


160  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

In  some  cases  the  negroes  raised  and  paid  over 
to  "the  head  Yankee'^  the  ten  dollars,  and  taking  a 
parcel  of  red  pegs,  the  Yankee  would  make  the 
ntgro  believe  he  was  actually  staking  off  his  forty 
acres. 

I  heard  of  a  case  of  this  sort.  The  row  of  red 
pegs,  which  the  Yankee  stuck  down  ran  close  by 
and  parallel  with  a  fence;  and  the  negro  land- 
owner thought,  as  the  fence  and  the  pegs  were  so 
near  to  each  other,  that  he  would  tear  the  fence 
down  and  make  it  up  where  the  pegs  were,  so  that 
the  fence  would  be  the  line  between  the  new  posses- 
sion and  the  "old  boss.''  But  while  Sambo  was 
tearing  the  fence  down,  the  "old  boss''  came  out  and 
inquired  of  his  former  slave  what  he  was  doing. 
"Well,  boss,"  said  he,  "my  line  runs  so  close  to  the 
fence  I  thought  it  mout  be  better  to  put  the  fence 
on  de  line  so  we'd  both  know  where  de  line  was." 

"How  came  you  to  own  that  land  over  there?" 
asked  the  old  master. 

"I  paid  de  head  Yankee  man  ten  dollars  for  de 
forty  acres,  and  he  stuck  down  dem  red  pegs  along 
dar  and  told  me  my  forty  acres  laid  down  dat  dar 
way." 

"You  say  you  paid  him  ten  dollars  for  your 
land?" 

"Yes,  boss." 

"Did  he  give  you  a  deed  for  the  land,  when  you 
paid  him  the  money?" 

"O,  yes,  boss;  I  got  de  deed  all  right." 

"You  wouldn't  mind  showing  it  to  me,  would 
you,  Sam?" 

"Course  I  don't  mind  showing  it  to  you.  I  got 
i{  rite  here  in  de  top  of  my  old  hat  Here  it  is," 
handing  to  his  old  master  a  leaf  torn  out  of  a  mem- 
orandum book,  saying. as  he  did  so,  "You  can  read 
it  for  yourself,  boss;  read  it  for  youiself." 

The  old  master  did  read  it  for  himself,  and  then 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  161 

lie  read  it  aloud  for  Sam's  benefit;  and,  now  I'll 
write  it  for  tlie  reader's  benefit.  Here  it  is — the 
deed^'^the  head  Yankee"  gave  to  old  Sam : 

^'Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  as  Moses 
lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  so  I  have 
lifted  ten  dollars  out  of  this  blanked  old  fool !" 

''Good  Lord-a-mitY,  is  dat  de  way  dat  paper 
reads?'' 

"Yes,"  replied  the  old  master,  ''that's  what  it 
says." 

"And  dat  Yankee's  got  my  ten  dollars  and  gone?" 

"Yes,  I  expect  he's  gone." 

"Fore  de  Lord,  dat  Yankee  shore  did  treat  me 
scan'lous.  I  reckon  I'd  better  put  dem  rails  back 
Oil  de  fence  I  took  off." 

Another  negro  claimed  that  "the  head  Yankee 
man"  who  rode  a  milk-white  horse,  gave  him  a  mill, 
out  on  Swift  Creek,  as  the  army  came  along;  and 
another  Yankee  stopping  at  the  mill,  awhile  after, 
and  hearing  of  the  gift,  asked  the  negro  if  that 
"head  Yankee  man"  gave  him  a  deed  to  the  mill 
property.  He  said  no.  "Well,  come  out  here," 
said  Yankee  number  two,  "and  I'll  fix  your  deed  for 
you."  The  Yankee  shot  him  through  the  head  and 
rolled  him  into  the  mill-pond,  is  the  way  I  heard 
tlie  story. 

We  had  Avonderful  times  in  the  days  of  recon- 
struction; but  as  our  country  is  at  peace  with  all 
the  world,  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  as  General 
I'aylor  said,  we  ought  to  let  by-gones  be  by-gones. 
But  they  will  come  up,  now  and  then,  especially 
when  an  incident  like  the  Myers'  one  brings  up 
old  John  Brown  and  the  memories  that  cluster 
about  him. 

The  extremist,  in  the  body  politic,  is  about  as 

great  a  trouble  to  it  as  was  the  egg  to  Pat  after  he 

had  swallowed  it  whole.     "Mike,"  said  Pat,  "Oi'm 

in  a  divil  uf  a  fix.     Ef  Oi  don't  kape  still  Oi'll 

11 


1(>2 


WHITAKER  S   REMINISCENCES, 


"  Is  dat  de  way  dat  i)aper  reads? " 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  163 

break  tliat  egg  and  the  shell  will  cut  me  stumake ;  if 
Oi  do  kape  still  the  egg'll  hatch  and  there'll  be  a 
Shanghai  rooster  crowing  inside  o'  me.'' 

To  prevent  the  breaking  or  the  hatching  of  that 
extremist  egg,  a  good-sized  dose  of  Common  Sense 
timely  administered,  will  so  aid  digestion  that  the 
body  politic  will  soon  be  rid  of  it;  so  that,  at  last, 
in  spite  of  the  extremists,  common  sense  and  Chris- 
tian patience  will  solve  the  race  question. 

Lest  the  reader  may  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
I  am  not  reconstructed,  and  have  not  become  re- 
conciled to  the  situation,  I  wish  to  say,  (and  then 
I'll  close  up  on  the  "John  Brown"  matter),  that 
the  South  has  a  future  that  will  far  surpass  the 
glory  of  the  slavery  period,  provided  the  same  con- 
servatism which  now  controls  public  opinion,  in 
church  and  in  state,  continues  to  be  the  leading 
characteristic  of  our  people,  white  and  black.  If 
let  alone,  the  South  can  and  will  solve  the  race 
problem,  and  do  it  in  such  a  way  that  both  races 
Vvill  be  better  and  stronger,  and,  of  course,  become 
happier;  and,  instead  of  being  antagonists,  they 
can  make  it  mutually  advantageous  to  live  to- 
gether, as  when  they  were  master  and  slave.  But, 
it  can  not  be  done  while  Northern  speakers  con- 
tinue to  make  saints  of  men  like  John  Brown,  for 
no  other  reason  than  that  they  hate  the  w^hite  peo- 
ple of  the  South.  But,  we  are  thankful  the  num- 
ber of  such  speakers  is  becoming  less  as  the  years 
go  by. 

I  can  not  see  any  reason  for,  much  less  any  sign 
of,  a  conflict  between  the  races;  nor  do  I  believe 
there  will  ever  be  any  change  of  that  relation  the 
two  races  now  sustain  to  each  other;  therefore,  I 
take  no  stock  in  the  Bassett  theory;  but,  I  do  be- 
lieve that,  as  the  years  go  by  and  the  white  race 
continues  to  march  onward  and  upward,  it  will  use 
ail  the  resources,  which  wealth,  education  and  en- 
lightened Christian  philanthropy  can  furnish,  to 
l;ft  that  other  race  into  a  his/her  and  better  life. 


164  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Captain  Woodall — A  Sad  Story — Some  Advice  to 
Fanners — A  Little  Common  Sense. 

Capt.  Absalom  Woodall  was  as  well  and  faA  ora- 
bl}^  known  in  the  olden  time,  both  in  this  city  and 
in  the  county  of  Wake,  as  any  man  of  that  day. 
For  a  long  time  he  served  as  ^'Crier  of  the  Court,'^ 
and  was  noted  for  his  faithfulness  in  attendance, 
and  more  especially  for  his  courtliness  and  dignity 
of  manner,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  in 
his  intercourse  with  the  bar  and  bench,  as  well. 
Everybod}^  liked  the  Captain,  of  which  fact  he  was 
well  aware,  and  Avas  proud  of  it. 

The  Captain  was  a  p^reat  politician,  and  prided 
himself  upon  being  a  Jacksonian  Democrat,  as  he 
St'id,  ^^Oi  the  first  water.''  Andre \y  Jackson,  as 
everybody  ought  to  remember,  was  known  in  his 
day  and  time  as  ^^Old  Hickory,"  and  so  it  became 
the  custom  with  the  Democrats  during  presidential 
campaigns  to  raise  hickory  poles  on  Avhich  to  float 
their  campaign  flags.  Martin  Van  Buren  was  the 
Democratic  candidate,  and  inasmuch  as  he  was 
known  to  be  General  Jackson's  choice,  as  his  suc- 
cessor for  President,  of  course  hickory  poles  were 
raised  by  the  Democrats.  One  had  been  raised  here 
iu  Raleigh,  and  Captain  Woodall  helped  to  do  it. 

Enthusiasm  ran  high,  when  the  pole  went  up  and 
the  Van  Buren  flag  floated  out  on  the  breeze,  and 
the  Captain  declared,  inasmuch  as  he  could  not  be 
iii  town  every  day  to  gaze  .on  that  pole  and  flag, 
tliat  he  would  have  a  pole  and  flag  of  his  own, 
right  in  his  yard,  and  so  he  told  his  wife  tliat  night 
when  he  went  home;  and  told  her,  furthermore, 
that  instead  of  raising  a  pole,  it  was  his  intention 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  165 

to  cut  the  limbs  off  of  a  very  beautiful  hickory  in 
front  of  his  door  and  hang  his  Van  Buren  flag  on 
that. 

Mrs.  Woodall,  so  the  story  was  told,  tried  to  dis- 
suade the  Captain  from  his  purpose,  but  his  mind 
was  made  up,  and  his  Democratic  blood  was  hot; 
so,  no  amount  of  reasoning  on  her  part  could  change 
him  from  his  patriotic  purpose. 

Sure  enough,  the  next  morning  he  made  a  rope 
and  some  pulleys,  with  which  to  hoist  a  flag,  and 
Tvith  these,  as  well  as  a  saw  in  his  hand,  he  climbed 
the  tree  as  high  as  it  was  safe  to  go,  and  began  his 
work.  Sawing  off  the  top,  he  fixed  his  rope  and 
pulleys  with  which  to  raise  his  flag,  and  then,  start- 
ing from  that  point,  he  went  down,  sawing  off  limb 
after  limb,  bringing  the  ends  of  his  rope  with  him, 
until  he  reached  the  last  limb.  Into  that  limb  his 
saw  went,  he  standing  on  it,  and  soon  limb,  saw, 
Captain  Woodall  and  all  hit  the  ground  in  a  heap, 
and  Mrs.  Woodall,  who  had  been  watching,  as  well 
as  cautioning  the  Captain,  from  the  time  he  sawed 
off  the  first  limb,  until  his  fall,  ran  out  and  tried  to 
lift  him  up,  saying  as  she  did  so :  ''Captain  Wood- 
all,  are  you  hurt?  I  told  you  not  to  climb  that 
tree.  And  then  to  think  you  went  and  sawed  off 
the  limb  that  you  were  standing  on.  I'm  aston- 
ished at  you!'' 

''That  proves,  Mrs.  W^oodall,  how  little  you 
know  about  politics,"  said  the  Captain,  by  which 
time  he  had  gotten  his  head  out  of  the  brush,  and 
was  feeling  for  his  snuff-box  to  take  a  pinch  of  snuff, 
which  was  a  constant  habit  with  him. 

This  is  the  story  the  Captain's  friends  used  to 
tell  on  him;  whether  true  or  false,  the  Captain 
would  sa}^,  while  the  crowd  would  laugh  and  he'd 
tcdvc  a  pinch  of  snuff :  "It  ain't  everybody  that  can 
raise  a  hickory  pole  all  by  himself."  I  have  heard 
several  versions  of  that  old  story,  and  all  of  them 


166  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

embodied  about  what  I  have  written.  The  Captain 
has  been  dead  a  number  of  years,  but  he  has  many 
descendants  still  living  v/ho  are,  as  he  was  while 
living,  honest  and  upright. 

As  I  have  been  very  much  interested  of  late  in 
the  question  of  temperance,  and  the  movements 
that  are  being  made  to  rid  our  State  from  a  traffic 
vihich  is  so  ruinous,  in  its  very  nature,  to  the 
best  interests  of  State  and  church,  I  will  relate  a 
story  as  it  was  told  to  me  in  Northampton  County, 
many  years  ago,  showing  how  cruel  the  liquor  traf- 
fic is,  and  how  the  innocent  as  well  as  the  drinker 
has  to  suffer. 

A  young  man  married  and  took  his  wife  to  a  lit- 
tle home  where  life  was  begun  in  an  humble  but 
very  happy  way.  They  had  but  little  to  start  with, 
but  they  loved  each  other,  and  life,  with  ail  uf  its 
possibilities,  was  before  them,  and  w^hy  could  they 
not  be  happy?  They  went  to  work,  and  the  first 
year's  effort  gave  them  assurance  of  what  the  fu- 
ture had  in  store  for  them  in  the  way  of  prosperity. 
The  wife  not  only  did  cheerfully  the  work  that  fell 
to  her  lot  in  the  home,  but  would  lend  a  helping 
hand  to  the  husband.  During  the  second  year  of 
their  married  life,  a  babe  having  been  born  to 
brighten  their  home  and  inspire  their  efforts,  they 
concluded  to  plant  an  acre  or  two  of  cotton  to  make 
a  little  money  to  buy  clothing,  pay  taxes,  etc.,  and 
the  wife,  in  her  eagerness  to  help,  said  she  would  do 
the  chopping.  And  she  did  it.  After  the  break- 
fast was  over,  and  before  dinner  had  to  be  started, 
she  would  wrap  the  babe  in  a  quilt  and  put  it  dowi'* 
in  a  safe  place,  at  the  end  of  the  rows,  and  for  an 
hour  or  two  she  chopped  the  cotton,  while  her  hus- 
band was  plowing  the  corn  and  the  potatoes,  and 
doing  other  work  on  the  little  farm.  As  that  wife 
faithfully  and  cheerfully  did  the  chopping  in  that 
cotton,   who   can  tell   how  many  happy   thoughts 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  167 

passed  through  her  mind,  looking  forward  to  the 
time  when  the  cotton  would  be  sold  and  many 
things  which  they  needed  in  housekeeping,  could 
be  bought,  to  say  nothing  of  the  dress  she  was  to 
have  and  the  shoes  and  hat  the  husband  would  get, 
aiid  also  the  many  little  things  baby  could  have? 
Every  lick  she  made  with  her  hoe  sw^elled  her  in- 
terest in  that  bale  of  cotton  that  was  to  bring  so 
many  blessings  into  their  little  home. 

The  picking  time  came  and  the  wife,  who  had 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  raising  of  the  crop, 
took  her  bag  and  went  into  the  patch  and  helped 
to  pick  the  cotton,  smiling  as  she  drcAV  the  fleecy 
locks  from  the  bolls,  thinking  boAV  near  the  time 
was  when  the  home  was  to  be  made  so  happy  be- 
cause of  the  many  new  and  bright  things  that  were 
to  be  bought  with  the  labor  of  her  hands. 

At  length  the  bale  of  cotton  was  ready  for  mar- 
ket, and  the  husband  made  his  arrangements  to 
start  early  in  the  morning.  He  greased  his  wagon, 
got  his  harness  together,  and  rolled  his  bale  on  the 
vagon,  so  that  when  the  sun  arose  he  might  move 
right  of.  As  he  mounted  to  the  seat  on  the  bale, 
his  wife  handed  him  the  memorandum  they  fixed 
up  last  night,  and  he  threw  a  kiss  as  he  drove  off, 
saying,  "I'll  be  back  before  night.'' 

"I  do  hope  he  won't.  He  promised  me  before 
we  married  that  he'd  never  drink  another  drop, 
and  he  has  kept  his  promise  two  years,  and  surely 
he  will  keep  it  now,  if  not  for  my  sake,  for  baby's 
sake.  I  won't  think  of  such  a  thing."  And  now 
I  hear  her  singing  and  talking  to  the  baby,  and 
telling  it  what  pretty  things  papa  will  bring  it 
when  he  comes  back,  but  I  can  see  she  is  uneasy. 
She  goes  to  her  work,  and  the  day  passes  slowly 
avvay. 

Let  us  go  over  to  the  town  and  see  the  cotton 
sold.     As  soon  as  the  husband  drove  in  he  was  met 


1(^8 

bv  a  well-to-do  merchant,  who,  in  addition  to  dry 
goods  and  groceries,  kept  a  bar  in  a  back  room,  and 
was  withal  the  principal  cotton  bnyer  of  the  place. 
He  soon  made  it  plain  to  Tom,  for  that  was  the 
husband's  name,  that  he  paid  the  highest  prices 
for  cotton  and  sold  goods  to  his  customers  at  the 
lowest  prices.  So  the  cotton  was  sold  at  the  high- 
est figures,  and  the  bale,  weighing  ii\e  hundred 
pounds,  brought  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifty  dol- 
lars. The  merchant  complimented  Tom,  patting 
him  on  the  shoulder,  and  jokingly  remarked  that 
a  man  with  as  much  money  as  he  had  just  received 
ought  to  treat.  Others  standing  around  said  they 
tliought  so  too,  and  although  he  protested  for 
av/hile,  yet  at  length  he  said,  being  too  weak  to  say 
NO,  and  stand  to  it,  ^^Come  in  and  I'll  set  'em  up 
one  time." 

At  sundown  the  wife  was  looking  down  the  lane 
for  the  hundredth  time,  when  at  last  she  saw  the 
wagon  coming.  She  rushed  around  to  have  things 
in  proper  shape  when  it  came  to  the  house,  and  be 
ready  to  give  the  welcome  kiss  when  Tom  drove  in. 
A'\lien  she  looked  again  the  wagon  was  at  the  gate, 
bnt  she  did  not  see  Tom.  When  she  went  out  she 
found  him  lying  in  the  wagon  looking  as  if  dead, 
but  too  soon  the  truth  flashed  into  her  mind, 
^- Drunk !"  Not  a  cent  of  money  in  his  pocket ;  not 
a  sack  of  flour,  nor  a  pound  of  coffee,  cheese  or  su- 
gar; no  dress  nor  shoes  nor  hat;  nothing  for  the 
baby;  nothing  but  a  drunken  man.  The  year's 
w(U'k  gone  and  the  only  return  a  drunken  husband. 
Enough  to  break  any  woman's  heart,  yet  thou- 
sands of  times  has  a  like  event  occurred. 

^'I  bonght  his  cotton  and  paid  him  for  it,  as  I 
can  prove  by  a  dozen  men,"  (and  so  he  could),  ^'and 
T  don't  hold  myself  responsible  for  a  man's  money 
after  I  pay  it  to  him.  If  he  got  drunk  and  lost  it, 
or  spent  it,  Tom's  wife  mustn't  blame  me  for  it," 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  169 

is  the  Avay  the  merchant  talked  Avhen  the  news  got 
out  about  Tom's  misfortune.  The  merchant  might 
not  have  taken  the  money,  but  he  set  the  net ;  Tom 
was  pulled  into  it;  in  there  the  money  was  lost,  for 
a  man  who  lived  at  the  place  where  the  thing  oc- 
curred told  me  in  relating  this  story,  that  after  Tom 
sold  his  cotton  he  was  not  seen  again  until  taken 
out  the  back  door  of  the  merchant's  bar-room  and 
put  into  his  wagon,  and  the  horse's  head  was  turned 
towards  Tom's  home.  That  merchant  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  church.  He  would  have  been  insulted 
had  it  been  said  that  he  kept  a  bar-room.  His 
business  was  merchandizing,  cotton  buying,  etc., 
'^only  keeping  a  little  liquor  for  the  benefit  of  cus- 
tomers," benefiting  them  as  he  benefited  Tom — 
getting  their  money  from  them  and  sending  them 
home  drunk.  But  I'd  better  stop,  or  I  might  run 
into  a  temperance  speech.  When  I  make  u\)  my 
mind  to  serve  the  devil  to  his  notion,  I'll  deal  in 
liquor.     I  am  sure  that  business  pleases  him. 

I  am  very  much  interested  in  farming,  and  pre- 
suming upon  the  fact  that  I  was  reared  upon  a 
farm,  used  to  plow  a  mule  and  do  any  kind  of  work 
^^'hich  others  did  on  the  farm,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
making  a  suggestion  or  two  to  my  brother  farmers. 
One  is,  don't  become  discouraged  because  you  did 
not  make  as  much  this  year  as  you  did  last,  and  quit 
the  farm.  Right  up  and  try  it  again;  but  be  sure 
to  take  a  dose  of  good  common  sense  to  get  your 
head  right  before  pitching  the  next  crop,"  or  you 
may  not  come  out  next  fall  any  better  than  you  did 
the  last.  The  high  price  of  tobacco  in  the  fall  of 
1902  made  your  head  swim  and  obscured  your  men- 
tal vision.  The  consequence  was,  you  lost  your  bal- 
ance and  took  a  fall,  figuratively  speaking.  ^  A  mod- 
erate dose  of  common  sense  would  have  prevented 
all  that.  But  you  thought,  because  tobacco  sold 
h^gh  then,  it  would  sell  high  next  fall,  and  so  you 


170  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

went  ahead  and  bought  a  top  buggy  and  a  fine 
horse,  paying  half  down  and  promising  the  balance 
when  you  sold  the  next  crop  at  a  high  price;  and 
didn't  plant  any  cotton,  and  not  more  than  half  a 
crop  of  corn,  because  you  thought  when  you  sold 
your  big  crop  of  tobacco  at  a  high  price  you  could 
buy  corn  and  pork  cheaper  than  you  could  raise 
them.     What  was  the  result?     Got  left. 

No,  don't  quit  farming,  but  use  more  common 
sense  and  less  guano  on  a  single  crop.  Cotton  is 
away  up  among  the  stars,  in  price,  now,  and  your 
head  will  get  to  swimming  again  if  you  don't  mind, 
looking  at  that  high  price ;  and  the  danger  is,  you'll 
take  another  fall  by  risking  everything  on  a  crop  of 
cctton;  and,  next  fall  when  you  ought  to  be  hous- 
ing corn  and  peas,  and  feeding  and  fattening  hogs, 
and  working  the  tobacco  you  made,  in  addition  to 
the  cotton  and  other  crops  you  raised,  you'll  be 
flat  of  your  back  again,  cursing  hard  luck.  No  luck 
about  it.  When  a  farmer  deliberately  puts  him- 
self in  the  hands  of  trusts,  by  confining  himself  to 
one  money  crop,  luck  has  nothing  to  do  with  it.  He 
needs  a  few  pills  made  of  common  sense,  that's  all. 
I  know  some  farmers  who  are  in  fine  shape,  for 
tliey  diversified  their  crops,  and  did  not  risk  every- 
thing to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  American  To- 
bacco Company.  "Old  Br'er  Rabbit,"  according  to 
Uncle  Remus,  could  always  come  out  at  the  big 
end  of  the  horn,  in  any  scrape  or  contest  he  had  with 
the  other  animals;  whether  in  single  combat  or 
against  a  trust  of  the  whole  menagerie;  and  he  did 
it.  Uncle  Remus  informs  us,  by  "thunkin',"  and  not 
in  a  measuring  of  strength  with  them.  We  can't 
whip  the  trusts  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  but,  by  the 
use  of  a  little  common  sense  we  can  keep  out  of 
their  clutches  and  be  as  independent  and  as  safe  as 
Br'er  Rabbit  was  in  the  midst  of  bears,  lions, 
wolves,  and  even  elephants. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  171 

Now,  brother  farmer,  don't  go  and  plant  all  cot- 
ton because  it's  15  cents  a  pound ;  unless  you  have 
a  gold  mine  close  by  to  fall  back  upon  in  case  cotton 
goes  down  to  5  cents ;  but  plant  other  crops  so  that 
you  may  hit  the  market  either  "gwine  or  a  coming," 
or  both;  and  next  fall  have  a  pen  full  of  fat  hogs, 
and  a  crib  of  corn  and  plenty  of  fodder,  pea-vines 
and  hay,  and  one  or  two  good  milch-cows,  and  you 
needn't  care  the  snap  of  your  finger  whether  the 
winter  is  cold  or  mild,  long  or  short;  or  whether 
the  Russian  bear  has  torn  Japan  into  mince-meat^ 
or  Japan  has  knocked  the  impudence  out  of  the 
aforesaid  Russian  bear — you'll  be  all  right ;  plenty 
to  eat,  money  in  your  pocket  and  no  debts  to  pay, 
for  Western  meat  and  cotton-seed  lard.  Dear 
brother  farmer,  as  a  parting  injunction — take  a  few 
doses  of  common  sense  before  you  commence  plant- 
ing the  next  crop,  to  keep  your  head  from  swim- 
ming. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Conference  at  Neiv  Bern — A  Scene  at  the  Station — 
Ttco  Visits  to  Beaufort — An  Old  Widower — 
Setting  up  tvith  a  Dead  Man. 

I  don't  know  why  I  happen  to  think  of  this  inci- 
dent just  at  this  moment;  but,  so  it  is,  my  mind 
calls  up  a  very  funny  scene  witnessed  at  New 
Bern  near  forty-six  years  ago.  I  Avas  then  a  young 
man,  looking  about  to  see  what  there  was  in  the 
world,  and  what  kind  of  people  went  to  Confer- 
ences, (for  that  was  a  Conference  occasion),  and 
especially,  I  guess,  to  see  a  certain  girl  I  expected 
to  find  there.  At  any  rate,  in  the  fall  of  1858,  I 
was  at  New  Bern  in  attendance  upon  the  North 
Carolina  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 


172  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

After  I  had  seen  as  much  of  the  Conference  as  T 
cared  to,  I  concluded  to  run  down  to  Beaufort  and 
spend  a  day  or  two ;  so  to  the  station  I  went.  There 
I  found  quite  a  number  of  persons,  gentlemen  and 
ladies  who  were  also  going  to  Beaufort.  They 
A\ere  strangers  to  me,  but  all  good  looking  people, 
and  I  was  glad  when  I  heard  them  saying  they 
were  going  to  Beaufort,  as  I  observed  there  were 
some  pretty  girls  in  the  company.  I  soon  discov- 
ered that  the  crowd  consisted  of  two  parties — that 
some  were  from  Guilford  County  and  some  from 
Granville.  In  the  Guilford  party  there  was  a  very 
beautiful  young  lady,  while  in  the  Granville  crowd 
there  was  a  fine-looking  young  gentleman,  dressed 
from  head  to  foot  in  faultless  style,  wearing  kid 
gloves  and  sporting  a  gold-headed  cane,  who,  I 
soon  discovered,  had  had  his  heart  pierced  by  an 
arrow  from  Cupid's  bow,  the  penalty  imposed  for 
looking  into  the  eyes  of  that  pretty  young  woman 
from  Guilford.  He  couldn't  keep  his  eyes  off  of 
her,  and  of  course  she  couldn't  help  casting  glances 
at  so  good  looking,  well-dressed  a  gentleman  as  he 
was,  especially  as  she  saw  that  he  w^as  interested  in 
her.  He  asked  this  one  and  that  one  who  she  was, 
but  no  one  could  tell  him.  He  was  restless,  yea, 
in  a  state  of  unbearable  anxiety,  for  having  accom- 
plished two  of  the  feats  accredited  to  Caesar,  he 
was  impatient  to  add  the  "Vici."  With  him  it  was 
"shoot  Luke  or  give  up  your  gun,"  so  he  concluded 
to  shoot.  Advancing  toward  her  with  hat  in  hand 
and  making  a  profound  bow  that  Chesterfield,  in 
his  best  practice,  could  not  have  equalled,  he  thus 
addressed  her : 

"I  beg  your  pardon.  Madam,  for  my  seeming 
rudeness,  but  I  am  so  anxious  to  know  whether  you 
are  single  or  married." 

"I  am  married,  sir." 

"Happy  the  fortunate  husband  I     It  is  a  good 


IXCIDEXTiS   AND   ANECDOTES.  173 

tiling  for  liim  the  marriage  took  place  before  I  ever 
saw  you.'' 

''Thank  you,  sir,"  she  said. 

''Madam',"  he  asked,  "have  3'ou  a  sister  as  pretty 


as  YOU  are 


.77? 


I  did  not  hear  her  reply,  for  by  this  time  all  in 
the  room  were  laughing ;  the  husband  of  the  pretty 
young  woman  made  his  appearance,  and  introduc- 
tions were  giYcn  until  all  who  were  present  became 
acquainted,  and  a  right  jolly  good  time  we  had  on 
our  excursion  to  Beaufort.  Hon.  W.  H.  P.  Jen 
kins,  one  of  GrauYille  County's  most  distinguished 
citizens,  was  the  young  man,  the  hero  of  that  very 
thrilling  incident,  which  resulted  in  giving  to  a 
party  of  a  dozen  or  more  people,  hitherto  strangers 
to  each  other,  a  most  delightful  time  at  Beaufort 
for  a  day  or  two,  besides  making  friends  who  for 
forty-six  years  have  rejoiced  in  the  good  fortune 
that  threw  us  together.  I  do  not  know  how  many 
of.  that  party  are  living.  Some  are  dead,  I  know, 
and  all  of  us  are  getting  near  the  border-land. 

At  this  Conference,  Benjamin  F.  Guthrie,  John 
C.  Brent,  William  A.  Wheeler  (all  dead),  R.  A.  Wil- 
lis and  J.  W.  Jenkins  (living)  were  admitted. 
Bishop  H.  H.  Kavanaugh  presided,  and  Rev.  Wil- 
liam E.  Pell  was  secretary.  The  number  of  mem- 
bers in  the  State,  reported  at  that  Conference  was, 
white,  27,997 ;  colored,  11,770 ;  total,  39,767.  Now 
there  are  145,972  white  members,  a  gain  in  forty-five 
years  of  106,205,  an  average  of  2,360  a  year.  The 
colored  members  belonging  to  other  branches  of  the 
^(ethodist  church  are  not  included  in  this  state- 
ment. 

W.  N.  Fuller,  Esq.,  of  Mapleville,  Franklin 
County,  the  steward  of  Cooke's  Chapel  church,  as 
well  as  the  best  surveyor  and  readiest  calculator  in 
that  part  of  the  country,  was  one  of  the  party  that 
went  to  Beaufort  from  the  New  Bern  Conference, 


174  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

and  is  a  daily  reader  of  the  Neivs  and  Observer.  If 
he  will  take  the  time  to  write  some  of  his  remem- 
brances of  that  occasion,  I  will  be  obliged  to  him 
for  them.  I  would  like  to  know  how  many  of  those 
who  took  that  perilous  sail  from  Beaufort  that 
stormy  morning  are  living.  That  w^as  indeed  a 
most  perilous  sail.  As  I  think  of  it  now,  it  is  a 
mystery  to  me  how  that  little  boat  lived  amidst 
those  waves  and  breakers. 

In  after  years  I  made  another  visit  to  Beaufort; 
this  time  my  Avife  accompanied  me.  We  had  not 
been  married  very  long,  therefore  we  mingled  with 
the  young  people  and  had  just  as  gay  a  time  as  any 
of  them,  boating,  fishing,  and  othervdse.  Among 
the  many  others  there,  a  most  conspicuous  charac- 
ter that  was  seen  in  every  sailing  and  fishing  party, 
was  a  rich  widower.  He  was  not  only  seen,  but 
heard,  for  he  was  a  great  talker;  said  many  things 
and  had  the  gift  of  being  able  to  laugh  at  his  OAvn 
jokes,  and  make  others  laugh.  He  spent  his  money 
freely,  standing  treat  on  all  occasions.  Of  course 
he  soon  became  quite  a  lion,  and  while  the  girls  did 
not  care  specially  for  him,  they  could  not  help  en- 
teitaining  very  kind  feelings  toward  him.  He  was 
a  personal  friend  of  mine,  and  my  wife  and  I  re- 
ceived from  him  very  special  attentions,  and  were 
placed  under  many  obligations  to  him  for  numerous 
acts  of  kindness,  for  all  of  which  we  promised  to 
speak  a  good  word  in  his  behalf  to  a  certain  lady 
from  Caswell  county,  who,  after  her  brother  and 
sister  had  gone  home,  was  being  chaperoned  by  my 
wife.  He  was  very  much  pleased  with  her,  follow- 
ing her  like  a  shadow,  and  she  seemed  to  be  as  much 
pleased  with  him;  at  any  rate  she  allowed  him  to 
be  her  constant  escort,  and  accepted  very  graci- 
ously, and  I  thought  quite  as  feelingly,  the  many 
tokens  he  gave  her  of  his  very  high  esteem.  He 
kept  her  room  filled  with  flowers,  and  as  for  cakes. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  175 

candies,  fruits  and  cool  driul>:s,  she  had  enough  to 
treat  all  her  friends.  As  I  saw  the  matter,  I  felt 
pretty  well  assured  that  my  friend,  the  widower, 
and  the  Caswell  girl,  would  surely  arrange  matters, 
and  that  opinion  was  strengthened  each  day. 

At  last  we  left  Beaufort,  the  young  lady,  wid- 
ower, wife  and  I  coming  off  together;  wife  and  I 
on  one  seat,  the  widower  and  the  young  lady  on 
another.  We  expected  that  as  the  widower  lived 
in  or  near  New  Bern  he  would  drop  off  there,  when 
the  train  came  through.  But  he  did  not.  At 
Goldsboro  we  expected  he  would  turn  back ;  but  no, 
when  the  train  moved  off  for  Raleigh  he  still  held 
his  seat  with  his  girl.  They  spent  the  night  in 
Ealeigh  as  our  guests,  and  of  course  we  gave  them 
the  parlor,  all  to  themselves,  thinking  that  when 
the  parting  came  in  the  morning  between  them  all 
would  be  satisfactorily  arranged,  and  that  the  wid- 
ower would  turn  his  face  homeward.  Not  so;  he 
had  not  been  able  in  all  his  interviews,  to  bring  the 
woman  up  to  the  point  of  giving  him  an  answer  to 
that  question  which  had  been  so  earnestly  urged 
for  the  last  few  days.  And  so,  instead  of  going 
east,  the  widower  went  on  west,  hoping  that  at  the 
last  he  would  hear  from  her  lips  the  little  word 
that  would  more  than  pay  him  for  all  that  he  had 
spent,  and  for  all  the  anxiety  he  had  suffered  on 
her  account,  as  well,  and  make  him  the  happiest  of 
men.  The  lady's  father  was  to  meet  her  at  Com- 
pany Shops,  now  Burlington,  and  it  was  there  the 
separation  was  to  take  place,  though,  before  leav- 
ing that  morning,  the  widower  told  my  wife  it  was 
his  intention  to  hire  a  carriage  at  Company  Shops 
and  take  the  young  lady  home. 

Well,  they  departed,  and  I  went  to  my  office  and 
wife  turned  her  attention  to  domestic  duties.  At 
dinner  we  talked  over  the  matter  and  speculated  on 
the  probable  outcome  of  the  affair.     We  had  no 


176  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

idea  of  hearing-  amthijQg  more  of  it  soon,  and  so  we 
dismissed,  or  thought  we  had  dismissed  the  whole 
matter.  But  that  night  as  we  sat  at  the  supper 
table,  the  door-bell  rang,  and  as  the  servant  opened 
the  door  we  heard  the  widower's  voice.  He  didn't 
take  time  to  say  good  evening,  but,  as  he  entered 
the  hall  where  wife  and  I  had  gone  to  meet  him,  he 
exclaimed : 

^'She's  a  cheat!  a  perfect  swindle  I" 

^'Why,  what's  the  matter?"  asked  my  Avife. 

"Enough's  the  matter,  madam.  By  the  time  we 
reached  the  depot  this  morning  that  woman  would 
hardly  speak  to  me.  xlnd  after  we  had  got  on  the 
car  she  looked  as  cold  as  an  iceberg,  and  the  further 
we  went  the  colder  she  got.  And  when  we  got  to 
Company  Shops  and  her  father  met  her,  I  gad,  she 
didn't  even  know  me,  but  Avalked  right  off  with  her 
father  without  so  much  as  looking  at  me!  She's  a 
cheat!  a  first-class  swindle;  that's  all  I've  got  to 
say  about  her." 

I  frequently  saw  my  friend  after  that,  and,  of 
course,  we  talked  over  the  Beaufort  affair.  But 
he's  dead  now — died  a  widower  and  maintained  to 
the  last  that  "that  woman  was  a  swindle !"  And  I 
guess  that  she  was ;  but,  not  any  more  so  than  many 
other  very  innocent  looking  girls  who  make  merry 
at  summer  resorts  at  the  expense  of  other  widowers, 
and  bachelors  as  well. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war — I  think  it  was 
in  1866 — a  gentleman  was  living  in  this  city  who 
had  on  hand  quite  a  lot  of  cotton  tliat  he  had  man- 
aged to  keep  hid  away  from  the  Yankees,  until 
things  had  quieted  down,  and  he  could  safely  put 
ii:  on  the  market.  He  made  arrangements  to  ship 
it.  deciding  that  on  a  set  da}^  the  train,  which  at 
tiiat  time  was  a  mixed  one,  carrying  freight  and 
passengers,  should  take  him  and  liis  cotton  to  Nor- 
folk, as  he  was  determined  his  cotton  should  not 
ii'et  out  of  his  sight. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  177 

There  was  a  yerj  sick  Yankee  in  the  city,  in 
whom  our  people  took  much  interest,  and  the  gen- 
tle man  who  owned  the  cotton,  whom  I  Avill  name 
'^Eill  Dew,"  had  given  him  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion, even  taking  his  wife  to  the  sick  man's  room 
that  she  might,  with  her  Avomanly  gentleness  and 
sympathy,  smooth  the  pillow  upon  which  lay  his 
fevered  head.  One  of  the  last  things  which  Bill 
did  before  going  off  with  his  cotton  was  to  take  his 
wife  around  to  the  sick  man's  room  to  look  after 
liis  comfort.  He  was  gone  about  a  week,  sold  his 
cotton  for  big  money,  and  telegraphed  his  wife  that 
ho  would  be  home  on  a  certain  evening.  Of  course 
the  wife  was  rejoiced  to  hear  the  good  news,  but 
could  not  help  being  uneasy,  as  the  times  were 
troublous,  and  she  didn't  know  what  might  happen 
if  the  bummers  and  thieves,  then  so  i3lentiful,  should 
find  out  that  he  had  a  pocket  full  of  money.  All 
day  long  she  could  hardly  stay  in  the  house,  be- 
cause of  her  anxiety,  and  could  not  pass  the  clock 
without  counting  the  hours  before  the  train  would 
arrive. 

At  last  the  whistle  blew,  and  she  took  her  position 
on  the  front  porch  watching  every  figure  that  made 
its  appearance  on  the  street.  But  Bill  did  not 
heave  in  sight.  At  length  night  came  on,  and  wore 
Oil,  but  Bill  did  not  come,  but  some  one  passed  by 
who  told  her  that  Bill  certainly  came  on  the  train, 
for  he  saw  him  get  off.  Then  she  did  not  know 
what  to  think,  but  sat  up  all  night  expecting  every 
moment  to  hear  his  footsteps. 

Now,  about  Bill.  When  he  came  down  the  street 
he  met  a  gentleman  who  insisted  that  they  should 
go  up  into  a  room  in  an  old  building  that  stood 
about  where  Briggs'  Hardware  Store  is,  and  see  a 
very  fine  game  that  was  being  played  up  there. 
Bill  declined,  saying  his  wife  was  looking  for  him, 
ai  d  that  she'd  be  uneasv,  etc. ;  but  the  friend  said, 
12 


178  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

^^You  needn't  stay  long'';  and  so  lie  went  up,  goc 
it'terested  in  the  game,  and  staid  until  the  sun  rose 
the  next  morning.  Hurrying  home,  he  found  his 
wife  standing  on  the  porch,  where  she  had  stood 
most  of  the  night,  crying  as  if  her  heart  was  break 
ing. 

'^O,  Bill,"  she  exclaimed  as  he  hove  to,  "what 
made  you  do  so?  Here  I've  stood  all  night  long 
expecting  every  minute  to  hear  that  somebody  had 
robbed  you  and  killed  you,  and,  O,  I — I — ,"  and 
dropping  her  head  on  his  manly  breast  she  gave 
vent  to  her  feelings  in  a  good,  old-fashioned  cry. 

xls  he  laid  his  arm  around  her  and  drew  her 
closer  to  his  honest  heart,  he  said  in  tones  so  full 
of  love  and  tenderness : 

"Mariah,  don't  go  on  so ;  I'm  here  safe  and  sound, 
and  I'll  tell  you,  love,  how  I  happened  to  stay  away 
last  night.  As  I  came  down  the  street,  I  thought 
I'd  run  in  to  see  the  sick  man  a  minute  and  find 
out  how  you  all  had  been  attending  to  him  while 
1  was  gone;  and  I  found  him  so  much  worse  and 
all  alone,  I  just  couldn't  get  away  from  him;  so,  as 
much  as  I  wanted  to  see  you  and  as  uneasy  as  I 
knew  you  would  be,  I  thought  it  Avas  my  duty  to 
stay  with  the  poor  fellow;  and  when  I  left  I  told 
him  that  I'd  come  home  and  get  you  and  we  both 
would  go  back  and  carry  him  a  nice  breakfast." 

All  of  a  sudden  the  weeping  wife  raised  her  head, 
pushed  Bill  off  at  arm's  length,  and  flashing  her 
eyes  at  him,  said: 

'^Bill,  that  man  you  say  you  sat  up  with  last 
night  was  buried  last  Thursday." 

Bill  said  he  made  up  his  mind,  right  there  and 
then,  it  was  best,  in  tlie  long  run,  for  a  man  to  tell 
his  wife  the  truth,  for  she'd  catch  up  with  him, 
sooner  or  later,  and  then  he'd  Avisli  he  had. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  179 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Haw  River  Barbecue — Regimental  Muster — Old 
Aunt  Rose,  the  Old  Colored  Manwiy — A  Visit 
From  "Burt^^ — An  Old  Nurse. 

In  one  of  my  letters  I  had  something  to  say  about 
the  visits  the  Oak  City  Guards  made  to  various 
places,  but  I  failed  to  speak  of  an  excursion  which 
that  company  and  the  Independent  Guards  inade 
to  Haw  River  in  1857.  General  Trollinger  had 
opened  a  hotel  at  Haw  River,  and  to  popularize  it, 
I  suppose,  he  invited  the  two  Raleigh  companies 
and  the  Orange  Guards  of  Hillsboro,  to  have  a 
grand  parade  there  and  to  partake  of  a  barbecue; 
and  the  invitation,  as  we  understood  it,  (I  was  a 
member  of  the  Oak  City  Guards),  meant  that  the 
military  companies  would  be  his  guests  while  there. 
Of  course  our  ranks  were  full,  for  who  wouldn't  go 
to  war  when  the  only  enemy  to  be  met  was  a  barbe- 
cue and  free  entertainment  for  a  night,  with  sup- 
per and  breakfast  thrown  in?  Arrived  at  Haw 
River  the  three  companies,  looking  their  best,  were 
drawn  up  in  line  to  be  inspected  by  our  host,  and 
admired  by  the  hundreds  of  ladies  who  graced  the 
occasion.  There  was  not  a  soldier  there,  from  the 
captain  down  to  the  lowest  man  in  ranks,  who  did 
not  feel  his  importance,  and  try  to  look  his  very 
best,  for  we  were  not  only  hotel  guests,  but  we  were 
on  historic  soil,  very  near  to  where  in  the  cause  of 
freedom  men  had  lost  their  lives  in  other  days,  and 
of  course  we  wanted  to  make  it  appear  that,  if  not 
chips  off  the  old  blocks,  we  were  chaps  that  would 
make  chips,  sometime. 

The  hint  was  thrown  out,  that  after  a  little  while 
spent  in  drill,  the  military  were  to  march  to  the 
warehouse,   stack   arms  and  have  a   hand-to-hand 


180  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

fight  with  that  barbecue,  of  which  so  much  had 
been  said  in  the  papers,  and  of  which  we  were  think^ 
ing,  while  on  parade.  Every  time  we  wheeled  in 
the  direction  of  that  warehouse  we  got  hungrier 
and  hungrier,  but  still  the  signal  was  not  given  by 
the  General,  who  had  requested  the  officers  to  keep 
u^  in  ranks  until  by  a  signal  he  should  announce 
that  dinner  was  ready.  Sometimes  w^e  would  march 
very  close  down  to  the  warehouse,  and  we'd  think 
surely  the  signal  will  come  now,  but  it  didn't;  in- 
stead would  come  the  command,  ^'Right  about, 
march !"  and  up  the  hill  we'd  go  again.  And  thus 
we  paraded  for  at  least  two  hours.  At  last  the  sig- 
nal was  given,  arms  were  stacked,  and  in  good  order 
we  marched  into  the  warehouse,  determined  to 
clean  up  that  barbecue,  for  we  thought  we  were 
hungry  enough  to  clean  up  anything.  But  as  gal 
lantly  as  we  marched  in,  and  as  confident  as  Ave 
were  of  our  ability  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  we  ut- 
tery  failed,  for,  after  the  most  desperate  assault 
along  the  line,  we  were  forced  to  retire,  leaving  the 
enemy  in  possession  of  the  field.  Why?  Well,  the 
boys  had  no  stomach  for  the  fight,  after  the  first  as- 
sault; so,  hungry  as  they  were,  they  marched  out, 
leaving  the  "ram,  lamb,  sheep  and  mutton"  and  the 
stale  corn  bread,  pretty  much  as  they  found  them. 
Of  course  all  ate  some,  if  a  piece  of  the  sheep  (for 
it  was  all  sheep)  could  be  found  that  was  done 
enough;  in  some  dishes,  there  was  wool  enough  to 
tell  the  color  of  the  sheep. 

Well,  we  understood  that  the  supper  was  to  be  a 
swell  affair,  and  so  we  soldiers  (invited  guests  as 
we  were),  consoled  ourselves  with  the  good  news 
that  would  now  and  then  come  from  the  hotel  din- 
ing-room, which  was  in  effect,  that  it  was  being 
filled  with  all  sorts  of  good  things,  and  such  a  sup- 
per, as  we  would  all  sit  down  to,  had  not  been  seen 
since  Haw  Eiver  was  a  spring  branch.     That  o-ood 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  181 

news  put  some  of  the  boys  in  such  fine  spirits  that 
a  dance  was  gotten  up  in  no  time  to  keep  things 
lively  until  the  supper-bell  would  ring.  So,  the 
dancers,  as  empty  as  they  were,  seemed  to  be  jolly 
enough. 

But  all  at  once  General  Trollinger  made  his  ap 
pearance  in  the  warehouse,  mounted  a  bench  and 
rapped  for  silence.  Every  eye  was  upon  him,  and 
every  stomach  gave  attention. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  said  he,  "supper  is  now 
ready!''  Tremendous  apiDlause.  "The  ladies,"  he 
continued,  "pay  nothing — gentlemen  will  pav  a  dol- 
lar !" 

I  took  a  lady  and  made  haste  to  reach  the  dining- 
room  ahead  of  the  crowd,  thinking  the  hungry  boys 
would  be  pouring  in  like  so  many  half-starved  cat- 
tJ(:  fighting  their  way  to  a  hay-stack;  and  I  had  just 
taken  my  seat  and  cast  my  eyes  over  the  well-filled 
table,  when  I  heard  a  gun  fire  off,  and  the  long  roll 
beat;  then  the  order,  "Fall  in.  Oak  City  Guards!" 
fell  upon  my  ear  like  a  death  knell.  Hastening 
from  the  dining-room,  I  at  once  took  in  the  situa- 
tion. The  captains  of  the  three  companies,  after 
a  hasty  consultation,  had  decided  to  march  their 
men  to  Graham,  two  miles  away,  where  they  would 
get  supper  and  better  treatment  than  they  had  re- 
ceived there.  Soon  the  column  was  in  motion,  the 
band  playing  "Eoot  Hog  or  Die!"  In  less  than  an 
hour  (for  a  dispatch  had  gone  ahead  of  us)  we  were 
all  seated  at  various  tables,  in  Graham,  eating  ham 
and  eggs,  biscuit  and  butter,  and  drinking  hot  cof- 
fee :  the  happiest  crowd  old  Graham  ever  fed.  The 
boys  could  not  sleep  that  night,  they  felt  so  good, 
though  ample  sleeping  arrangements  were  made. 
The  breakfast  next  morning  was  even  better  than 
supper  the  night  before,  for  in  addition  to  ham  and 
eggs  we  had  fried  chicken.  Our  bill,  when  we  were 
ready  to  leave  the  town,  had  been  paid  by  the  citi- 


182  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

zcns  of  Graham,  and  receipted  to  the  senior  cap- 
tain, with  the  invitation  annexed:  ^'Come  again! 
Our  doors  are  always  open.''  We  took  the  train  at 
Graham  station,  and  of  course  had  to  come  by  Haw 
Kiver.  As  the  train  stood  in  front  of  the  hotel  the 
boys  showed  their  bad  manners  by  singing  to  the 
tune  of  ^^Eoot  Hog  or  Die" : 

"We  military  boys  are  off  upon  a  spree, 
Came  to  General  Trollinger's  to  get  a  dinner  free, 
Dinner  wan't  the  thing,  then  supper  was  the  cry, 
Down  with  your  dollar  bill,  root  hog  or  die." 

I  am  afraid  the  boys  were  a  little  too  rude  that 
morning,  but  the  Graham  people  had  treated  them 
so  nicely,  and  they  felt  so  good,  having  just  filled  up 
on  ham,  eggs,  fried  chicken,  and  the  so-forths,  they 
were  hardly  responsible  for  what  they  did  and  said. 
General  Trollinger  did  not  show  himself  while  the 
train  halted,  though  it  was  said  that  he  heard  every- 
thing. He  made  a  terrible  mistake,  and  it  ruined 
his  hotel.  As  his  conduct  was  interpreted,  his  idea 
was  to  draw  a  big  crowd  there,  ostensibly  to  a  free 
barbecue,  but  in  reality  to  make  money  on  the  sup- 
per out  of  the  three  militar^^  companies  which  he 
had  invited,  as  well  as  out  of  the  people  generally, 
who  might  come.  He  had  no  idea  the  matter  would 
take  the  turn  it  did ;  that,  at  the  last  moment,  after 
the  supper  bell  had  rung,  the  three  hungry  and 
tired  companies  would  shake  HaAV  Eiver  dust  from 
their  feet  and  march  to  Graham  for  their  supper. 
But  they  did. 

As  I  am  talking  about  the  military  of  the  olden 
time,  when,  as  a  young  man,  I  marched  and  went 
0:1  excursions  with  the  boj^s,  I  will  stop  to  relate 
an  experience  I  had  when  a  very  small  boy.  My 
father  was  a  colonel  of  the  militia,  and  once  or 
twice  a  year  there  was  a  regimental  muster.  I  had 
never  witnessed  one,  and  really  had  no  idea  what 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  183 

it  was.  So,  one  morning,  my  father  said  to  an  older 
brother  and  me  that  we  might  go  with  him  to  Ral- 
eigh to  the  muster  if  we  would  promise  to  be  good 
hojs  when  we  got  there.  Of  course  we  i^romised, 
and  so  we  went.  As  I  remember,  the  parade  ground 
was  in  the  southwest  x)ortion  of  the  city  near  where 
the  cotton  platform  is,  and  m}'  father  carried  us  out 
there  and  placed  us  in  a  good  position  to  witness 
the  muster.  Pretty  soon  the  old  field  began  to  fill 
up  with  people,  and  it  was  not  long  until  the  com- 
panies belonging  to  the  regiment  began  to  march 
out  on  the  field  and  take  positions.  Such  drum- 
ming and  fifing,  and  such  marching  and  counter- 
marching, wheeling  and  twisting,  and  handling  of 
guns  made  my  eyes  run  water  to  behold.  Company 
after  compam^  marched  in,  manoeuvered  and  halted 
in  position,  until,  it  seemed  to  me,  the  line  was  a 
mile  long.  Then,  there  was  a  lull,  and  the  men 
began  to  squat  down,  kneel  down,  or  lie  down  and 
talk,  laugh  and  joke.  But  presently,  an  officer  said 
in  a  loud,  martial  voice :  '^Attention !"  Men  sprang 
to  their  feet,  shouldered  their  guns,  and  orderlies 
up  and  down  the  line,  were  saying:  ^'Look  to  the 
right  and  dress!''  I  asked  my  brother  what  dress- 
ing meant,  but  he  didn't  know,  and  so  all  that  we 
could  do  was  to  watch  and  wait.  Our  station  was 
about  half  way  the  line,  and  some  twenty-five  yards 
in  front  of  it,  so  we  could  see  all  the  companies 
which  made  up  the  regiment  and  see  everything 
that  was  done,  as  well  as  hear  all  that  was  said.  I 
noticed  that  the  officers  with  swords  drawn  took 
positions  in  front  of  the  line,  and  pretty  soon  the 
word  passed  along  the  line :  ^^The  ColoneFs  coming ! 
The  Colonel's  coming!"  And  sure  enough  there 
came  three  or  four  men,  on  prancing  steeds,  wear- 
ing gay  uniforms,  cocked  hats  with  feathers,  long- 
legged  boots,  military  gloves,  red  sashes,  while  sa- 
bres, that  looked  as  long  to  me  as  scythe  blades, 


184 

danoled  at  their  sides.  If  I  had  had  the  eyes  of 
Argus,  himself,  I  could  have  kept  them  hu^j  taking 
in  all  that  was  new  to  me.  On  the  riders  came, 
the  men  in  line  presented  arms,  the  officers  their 
swords,  and  I  kncAv  that  the  big  event  of  the  day 
was  taking  place  or  soon  would  be. 

^^That's  the  Colonel,  the  man  in  the  middle  on  the 
bay  horse,"  I  heard  some  one  say,  and  of  course  I 
looked,  and  my  brother  and  I  said  at  the  same  time, 
^'Vv  hy,  that's  father !" 

"Your  father,  honey?"  queried  a  well-dressed  ne- 
gro mammy,  who  held  two  pretty  children  by  their 
hands.     "Is  de  Kernel  your  father?" 

"Yes,  ma'am,"  I  said. 

"Well,  fore  de  Lawd,  he's  a  putty  man ;  he's  putty 
nuff  to  be  a  gineral.     What's  your  name,  honey?" 

I  told  her,  and  then  she  made  the  two  little  chil- 
dren she  had  in  her  care,  shake  hands  Avith  "de 
Kernel's  sons,"  and  divide  with  us  the  cakes  she 
had  in  a  basket  for  their  lunch. 

I  have  thought  of  the  incident  often,  and  I  bring 
it  into  review  for  the  puri)ose  of  giving  the  reader 
some  idea  of  the  pride  and  importance  of  the  old- 
time  negro,  especially  the  old-time  "negro  mammy." 
In  my  young  days  there  were  as  many  grades  in 
negro  society  as  there  were  slave  owners;  and  the 
grades  depended  u^dou  the  number  of  negroes  on  a 
plantation  or  upon  the  title  a  man  bore. 

I  used  to  know  one  of  the  finest  looking  negro  men 
in  mj  young  days  who  Avas  honest  and  industrious, 
A\'ho  dressed  well  and  behaved  well,  and,  all  things 
considered,  he  was,  to  my  mind,  a  good  catch  for 
any  negro  girl.  But,  strange  to  say,  among  the 
negroes,  he  was  rated  aAvay  down;  in  fact,  called 
"dat  poor  nigger,"  when  alluded  to  by  the  negro 
girls  belonging  to  men  who  owned  ten,  twenty,  or 
perhaps  fifty  slaves.  What  was  the  matter  with 
him?     A  great  deal  in  the  estimation  of  other  ne- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  185 

o'j-oes.  He  was  the  only  negro  his  master  owned, 
therefore  he  was  poor.  There  Avas  no  class  of  peo- 
ple in  the  old  time  that  had  more  pride  than  ne- 
groes; and  no  class  that  paid  more  homage  to 
AA-ealth  and  position.  There  were  other  children 
standing  nearby  that  day,  when  that  old  negro 
mammy  divided  her  children's  cakes  with  me  and 
my  brother,  but  they  were  not  "de  Kernel's  sons," 
so  she  offered  them  no  cakes. 

"Aunt  Rose"  was  the  mammy  at  our  home,  and 
she  was  always  telling  us  children  of  "old  master," 
and  of  our  uncles  and  aunts,  and  I  am  sure  that,  ac- 
cording to  her  views,  no  such  people  ever  lived  "in 
her  day  and  time,"  as  "Old  Marster  and  his  folks." 
If  I  had  the  gift  of  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  I  would 
reproduce  "Aunt  Rose,"  incarnate  her  as  "Uncle 
Remus"  has  been,  and  let  the  reader  look  upon  and 
listen  to  the  old-time  mammy,  who,  fifty  years  ago, 
was  quite  as  regal  in  her  views  and  opinions  as  Vic- 
toria ever  was,  and  had  more  influence  over  us  chil- 
dren than  mother  herself,  in  certain  things.  Har- 
riet Beecher  Stowe  wrote  a  book  that  fired  the 
Northern  mind  and  heart  to  the  extent  of  making 
the  North  hate  us;  but  it  was  as  untrue  as  were 
Satan's  words  to  Eve,  when  he  beguiled  her  into 
believing  a  lie.  I  am  glad  that  slavery  has  been 
abolished,  but  I  wish  to  write  it  that  children  may 
hear  what  an  old  man  says,  that  slavery  was  a  good 
thing  for  the  negro;  and,  with  comparatively  few 
exceptions,  negroes  were  as  well  cared  for  as  were 
the  master's  children.  And  so  long  as  the  old-time 
negro  lives,  he  knows  that  the  old-time  master,  who 
played  with  him,  and  worked  with  him,  when  they 
were  boys  together,  will  never  let  him  suffer. 

"Burt"  came  in  to  see  me  the  other  day,  and  I 
gave  him  the  best  rocking-chair;  and  what  memo- 
ries were  revived  as  he  and  I  talked!  I  could  see 
the  old  home  as  it  was  when  Burt  and  I  were  boys. 


186  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

father  and  mother,  with  the  care  of  a  home  and  a 
large  plantation,  so  intent  upon  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  the  many  duties  and  obligations  that 
devolved  upon  them,  going  here  and  there,  looking 
after  everything;  the  children,  (all  of  usj  the  ser- 
vants, the  dogs  and  the  cats,  the  horses,  the  cows, 
the  hogs,  the  geese,  the  turkeys,  the  chickens,  yea, 
everything.  Yes,  Burt  and  I  talked,  and  fifty  years 
were  blotted  out,  as  we  went  over  the  old  planta- 
tion. We  went  doAvn  to  the  "copper  mine"  field 
Avhere  we  first  plowed  together,  and  over  in  the 
"goose  nest'^  field,  where  we  as  young  men  helped  to 
cut  down  the  timber  and  clear  up  the  land ;  and  over 
to  the  Avery  field,  where  the  corn  rows  were  so 
long  it  seemed  like  a  day's  journey  to  us  to  make  a 
round;  down  to  the  lake  field  Avhere  we  made  our 
fii-st  money  cutting  ditches  at  night.  In  short,  we 
went  to  every  place  so  well  remembered  by  us — 
and  connected  with  each  there  was  a  something  that 
made  its  recollection  very  sacred  to  us.  As  I  sat 
and  looked  at  the  old  man  Burt,  whose  head  is 
grey,  and  whose  face  is  wrinkled,  and  remembered 
that  he  and  I  were  boys  together,  played  together, 
and  many  times,  in  the  field,  ate  together  from  the 
same  wooden  tray,  he  felt  so  much  like  a  brother — 
one  of  us!  Deep  down  in  my  heart  I  said,  "God 
bless  the  faithful,  old-time  negro!" 

While  we  were  talking,  wife  came  in  and  said. 
"Uncle  Burt,  I  have  fixed  a  breakfast  for  you  in 
the  kitchen."  "Thankee,  Missus,  ^^Jjankee,"  and 
cutting  his  eye  at  me,  with  the  old-time  smile  on 
his  face,  he  went  out  following  wife,  repeating  as 
he  went,  "Thankee,  Missus!" 

When  Burt  left  he  had  on  his  arm  a  suit  of 
clothes  and  an  overcoat,  and  said,  as  he  closed  the 
gate:  "I'm  coming  to  see  you  again,  if  the  good 
Lord  spares  my  life.  If  I  don't,  I'm  gwine  to  try 
to  meet  you  up  dar  I"  turning  his  eyes  heavenward. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  187 

Soon  the  last  old-time  master  and  mistress  and 
the  last  old-time  negro  will  have  passed  away,  and 
the  last  sacred  tie  that  bound  the  two  races  to- 
gether will,  forever,  have  been  severed. 

But,  may  we  not  hope  that,  the  two  races,  in 
t]ieir  new  relations  to  each  other,  may  so  adjust 
themselves  to  the  requirements  of  peace  and  good 
order  as  that  the  future  may  be  as  happy  to  them 
as  was  the  old-time  past  to  the  generation  now  has- 
tening away? 

I  have  had  considerable  to  say  in  these  letters 
about  raising  and  training  children;  and  perhaps 
have  said  enough.  But  for  the  benefit  of  the  moth- 
ers, whose  babes  are  carried  out  in  their  best 
dresses,  by  hired  nurses,  I  will  relate  a  circum- 
stance of  which  I  was  a  witness. 

A  half-dozen  nurses,  with  babes  in  charge,  con- 
gregated the  other  evening  near  my  gate,  and 
among  them  was  an  old-time  colored  ''mammy.'' 
One  of  the  nurses,  however,  was  a  young  girl,  12  or 
15  years  old,  who  had  in  charge  a  three-months'-old 
child,  that  looked  very  fragile  and  was  so  feeble 
that,  although  roughly,  and  I  might  say  cruelly 
handled,  it  made  no  outcry — in  fact,  it  appeared 
to  be  so  completely  tired  out  by  rough  treatment 
as  to  be  unable  even  to  whimper.  I  felt  like  I 
ought  to  make  an  appeal  to  the  nurse  in  the  child's 
behalf,  but  knowing  how  pert  and  imj)udent  some 
are  who  go  out  as  nurses,  I  refrained.  But,  the 
old  colored  mammy  came  to  its  aid  in  a  real  snap- 
ping turtle  st^de,  by  saying:  ''Look-a-here,  gal; 
Avhose  chile's  dat  you  got  dar,  slinging  it  on  yer 
arm  jes  like  'twas  a  cat?  You  ort  to  be  'shamed  er 
yerself  to  hold  a  poor  little  chile  dat  way.  I  say, 
whose  chile  is  dat?" 

The  girl  paid  no  attention  to  her,  but  slung  the 
little  thing  from  arm  to  arm  as  if  it  had  been  a  rag, 
its  little  head  hanging  down;  then  catching  it  up 


188  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

sbe  threw  it  on  her  shoulder,  while  she  pranced 
around,  as  if  trying  to  waltz  off.  But  the  old 
mammy  persisted  in  knowing  "whose  chile  is  dat?" 

"Dat  white  'ooman's  'round  de  corner,  dar,"  she 
answered,  as  she  slung  the  child  again. 

"  'Fore  God,  you'll  kill  dat  chile;  it's  too  little  to 
be  out  here  dis  time  o'  day.  The  poor  thing's  cold 
rite  now.  Carry  it  home  to  its  mother.  You'll 
shorely  kill  dat  chile." 

The  nurse  paid  no  heed  to  what  she  said,  but, 
continued  to  sling  the  babe  from  arm  to  arm,  some- 
times almost  dropping  it,  leisurely  sauntering 
along,  looking  as  careless  and  as  indifferent  to  the 
child's  comfort  or  health,  as  if  it  had  been  a  cat, 
indeed.  The  old  mammy  looked  after  her  as  she 
slowly  turned  the  corner,  still  slinging  the  child, 
and  as  if  talking  to  herself,  exclaimed : 

"Dat's  how  come  so  many  white  chillun's  gone 
to  glory!  Emph!  Dat's  de  Lawd's  trufe!  Heav- 
en's bin  mity  nigh  filled  up  wid  white  chillun  sense 
do  war,  and  taint  gwine  to  be  long  'fore  it'll  be 
chock  full.  Yea,  Lawd!  Dese  nigger  gals  gwine 
'round  here  nussin'  ain't  fit  to  nuss  a  puppy,  for 
dey  kills  mor'n  half  de  babies  dey  nuss,  and  den 
de  mothers  grieves  deyselves  half  to  death  and  say, 
^De  Lawd  gave  and  de  Lawd  has  taken'd  dem  away.' 
But  dat  ain't  so.  De  Lawd  give  'em  to  de  mam- 
mies and  de  mammies  give  'em  to  dese  no  'count 
gals  to  nuss,  and  deys  de  ones  dat's  filling  glory 
with  white  aingels." 

"Is  that  the  way  of  it?"  I  asked. 

"I'm  telling  you  de  Lawd's  trufe.  Bless  de  Lawd, 
I  know.  I've  bin  the  mammy  of  twenty-six  white 
chillun,  and  none  o'  dem  chillun's  never  gone  to 
glory  yit.  You  can't  treat  a  chile  like  it  was  a  injun 
rubber  shoe  or  a  rag-doll.  You  hear  me!  Dese 
gals  gwine  'round  here,  with  white  aperns  on,  'tend- 
ing like  they  can  nuss,  shouldn't  nuss  a  fice  dog  for 
me  'dout  I  wanted  to  kill  de  dog." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  189 

The  old  mammy  tucked  the  wrapping  about  the 
biiby  she  had  in  charge,  started  her  carriage  and 
repeated  to  herself  as  she  moved  along:  "None  of 
de  white  chillun  dat  called  me  mammy  ain't  gone 
to  glory  jit,  bless  de  Lawd !" 


CHAPTER  XV 


La    Griijpe,    and    ^M^o    Started    It?  —  Kirkham's 
Spring — In  a  Quandary. 

Who,  until  a  few  years  ago,  ever  heard  of  the 
grippe?  And  who,  if  he  has  had  an  attack  of  the 
grippe,  wants  to  hear  of  it  any  more?  When  I  was 
a  boy  we  had  bad  colds,  and  worse,  and  "the  worst 
colds";  and  had  the  influenza  and  all  other  kinds 
of  diseases,  brought  on  by  the  changeable  winter 
weather,  but,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  grippe 
among  us  common  people.  They  might  have  had 
it  among  the  rich  people,  but  the  poorer  classes 
were  not  able  to  indulge  in  such  a  high-sounding, 
Frenchified  complaint  as  "La  Grippe."  I  don't 
know  who  introduced  the  thing  here,  and,  wishing 
him  no  harm,  I  don't  want  to  know;  for  I  am  sure 
he  is  no  friend  of  mine.  I  don't  complain  at  a  bad 
cold,  nor  grumble  much  (however  much  I  may 
sneeze  and  cough)  over  a  worse  cold ;  but,  the  grippe 
is  something  I  have  no  patience  with,  and  am,  by 
it,  very  much  like  old  Mrs.  Alston  used  to  say  of 
the  preacher  who  would  come  to  see  her  and  stay  a 
week  at  a  time.  She  said:  "I  always  hate  to  see 
him  come;  I'm  in  a  bad  humor  all  the  time  he's 
here,  and  mighty  glad  Avhen  he  is  gone."  That  ex- 
presses my  feelings  about  the  grippe,  exactly,  for 
I've  had  it.  About  ten  years  ago  the  thing  took  me, 
or  I  took  it :  either  would  be  correct ;  and  I've  had 


190  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

annual  visitations  ever  since.  It  is  the  grippiest 
grippe  that  ever  gripped  me.  They  say  that  a  tur- 
tle, when  he  bites  one,  won't  let  go  his  hold  until  it 
thunders;  but  I've  never  heard  any  thunder  that 
would  break  the  hold  of  the  grippe.  It  makes  no 
difference  whether  the  weather  is  clear  or  cloudy; 
raining,  hailing  or  snowing,  the  gri^Dpe  puts  in  its 
work.  And  it  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  like 
t]iat  old  fellow  who  goes  about  seeking  whom  he 
may  devour,  taking  all  and  leaving  none,  the  grippe 
treats  all  alike,  and  just  as  mean  as  possible. 

What  is  the  grippe,  anyhow?  I  know  it  well 
enough  by  the  way  it  treats  me ;  not  that  I  can  tell 
it  by  sight,  nor  by  sound;  but,  it  has  a  way  of  its 
own  by  which  it  can  make  known  its  presence.  A 
fellow  feels  badly  when  he  has  a  bad  cold;  when 
he's  got  the  tooth-ache,  ear-ache,  or  the  head-ache; 
and  feels  mighty  bad  also  when  he's  got  the  rheu- 
matism, the  sciatica  or  ^'lumbago" ;  but,  he  don't 
know  how  badly  a  man  can  feel  until  he  has  had  the 
grippe. 

If  I  have  a  friend  in  this  world  who  is  as  fond  of 
me  as  the  grippe,  I  don't  know  it.  Uninvited  and 
unwanted,  whether  I'm  busy  or  otherwise,  here  it 
comes,  and  there's  not  a  particle  of  use  of  trying  to 
excuse  myself,  for  it  will  take  no  excuse ;  but  walks 
right  in,  hangs  up  its  hat,  takes  a  seat  and  crosses 
its  legs,  and  there  it  is ;  and  there  it's  going  to  stay 
until  I  have  spent  from  five  to  ten  dollars  to  have  it 
turned  out.  That's  my  trouble  right  now,  trying 
to  oust  that  disagreeable  visitor  that  I  hate  to  see 
come,  that  keeps  me  in  a  bad  humor  when  here,  and 
though  driven  out  a  dozen  times,  has  no  more  man- 
ners than  to  come  right  back  again. 

Again,  I  ask,  what  is  the  grippe,  and  where  did  it 
come  from?  Old  Dr.  Keely  said  it  was  the  same 
thing  as  the  epizootic  in  army  horses.  That  raises 
the  question,  did  we  catch  the  grippe  from  horses, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  191 

o:*  did  the  horses  catch  the  epizootic  from  us?  I 
thought  there  must  be  some  horse-power  connected 
with  it,  somehow,  for  it's  strength  is  wonderful. 
'S'^^hen  you  have  sneezed  enough  to  loose  the  hair  on 
your  head,  and  coughed  enough  to  bring  up  things 
from  the  very  bottom,  and  blown  enough  to  run  a 
Munchausen  wind-mill,  and  begin  to  indulge  the 
iiope  that  you  have  broken  the  grippe's  grip,  you 
find,  after  the  struggle  is  over  that  the  grippe  is 
still  holding  its  grip.  Ten  years  ago,  with  the  aid 
01  one  of  the  best  doctors  in  Raleigh,  I  tried  to 
break  the  thing  loose;  but  it  held  on  w^eek  after 
week,  and  though  spring  was  coming  on,  it  showed 
no  signs  of  leaving  me.  I  was  getting  impatient,  aye 
becoming  desperate,  and  was  willing  to  try  any 
remedy.  As  luck  would  have  it,  I  saw  a  statement 
in  a  paper,  made  by  Dr.  Keely,  to  the  effect  that  asa- 
foetida  would  cure  the  worst  kind  of  case  of  grippe, 
that  he  had  tried  it  in  all  sorts  of  cases  and  cured 
e^  ery  one.  The  dose  was  sixteen  grains  four  times  a 
day,  making  sixty-four  grains  a  day.  I  didn't  know 
whether  there  was  any  virtue  in  the  asafoetida; 
but,  I  thought  I'd  treat  Mr.  Grippe  to  a  few^  doses  of 
it;  anyhow;  if  it  did  nothing  else,  it  might  make 
his  longer  stay  very  unpleasant.  So,  for  three  days 
I  swallowed  sixty-four  grains  of  asafoetida  a  day,  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  grains  in  the 
three  days.  Did  I  get  well?  Of  course  I  did.  Did 
the  asafoetida  cure  me?  I  don't  know.  Some  of 
the  doctors  who  tried  to  tease  me  about  my  asa- 
foetida remedy,  said  the  supposed  good  effect  was 
imagination.  To  which  I  replied:  ^'It  makes  no 
difference  which  it  was,  the  asafoetida  or  the  imagi- 
nation, so  I  got  clear  of  the  grippe."  But  I've  had 
it  since,  repeatedly. 

Yes,  I've  got  the  grippe  right  now ;  my  limbs  ache, 
my  head  aches,  my  throat  is  sore,  my  nose  is  stop- 
ped up,  my  eyes  are  running  water,  and,  altogether. 


192  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

I'm  feeling  as  old  Mr.  Stokes  used  to  say,  ^^powerful 
bad.''  That's  the  reason  I'm  not  writing  an  old- 
time  story.  I'm  feeling  too  solemn  for  story  writ- 
ing; and  in  too  bad  humor  to  try  to  be  funny. 
Coughing  and  sneezing  take  me  by  turns,  and 
pocket  handkerchiefs  have  to  be  changed  so  often  I 
can't  give  an  idea  half  a  chance  to  hatch  out,  before 
the  whole  thing  has  to  be  repeated.  I  wonder  if 
Job  ever  had  the  grippe?  I  don't  expect  an  answer 
from  any  honest  Bible  reader,  but  I  thought  that 
(maybe)  some  of  the  advanced  thinkers  and  higher 
Clitics  would  like  to  try  their  hands  on  it,  as  it's 
about  on  a  par  with  the  most  of  the  questions  they 
like  to  tackle. 

There  is  not  much  religion  in  the  grippe,  nor  is 
it,  in  any  sense,  a  means  of  gTace;  but  it  certainly 
does  make  a  fellow  feel  his  utter  dependence  and 
causes  him  to  place  a  hitherto  unacknowledged 
high  estimate  upon  the  faithfulness  of  the  wife,  who 
patiently  bears  with  him  in  his  cross  moments,  reg- 
ularly physics  him,  rubs  his  head  when  it  aches, 
and  even  bathes  his  feet  and  makes  him  say,  after 
each  of  said  ministrations,  that  '^he  does  feel  a 
sight  better."  By  the  way,  that's  a  smart  trick  of 
the  wife.  She  doesn't  propose  to  let  her  patient  say 
he  feels  worse,  but  makes  him  say  he  feels  better, 
and  then  makes  him  stick  to  it.  There  is  a  lot  of 
philosophy  in  that.  The  old  story  of  a  well  man's 
dying  just  because  every  one  he  met  said  he  was 
looking  badly,  demonstrated  the  power  of  the  imag- 
ination on  that  side  of  the  question ;  and  it's  just  as 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  a  man  can  be  helped  back 
to  health  by  making  him  think  he's  better.  If  a 
man's  got  any  grit  left  in  him,  he  don't  like  to  go 
back  on  himself  after  he  has  told  his  loving,  anx- 
i(>us  wife  that  "he  feels  better,"  and  bring  back  the 
shadow  on  her  face.  Yes,  whenever  the  wife  per- 
forms anv  of  those  womanlv  tricks  that  none  but  a 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  193 

l('Ying  wife  knows  how  to  practice,  she's  sure  to 
conclude  Avith  the  question,  "You  feel  better,  now, 
don't  you?"  And  of  course  he  says,  "Yes,  much 
better.''  I  am  getting  better  and  hope  to  be  out  in 
a  few  days.  This  is  not  that  tough  old  grippe 
that  we  run  out  Avith  asafcetida  years  ago,  but  one 
of:  the  younger  grippes ;  therefore  more  easily  man- 
aged, but  it's  surely  a  chip  off  the  old  block.  I'll 
stop  right  here,  with  the  ^proposition,  that  if  the 
grippe  will  let  me  alone  I  Avill  let  it  alone,  for  all 
time  to  come,  and  hold  no  grudges  against  it. 
That's  fair. 

In  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand,  eight  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight,  our  city  was  made  to  believe, 
that,  in  less  than  a  mile  from  the  capitol  building, 
there  was  a  fine  mineral  spring.  The  news  of  its 
discovery  filled  the  toAvn  with  an  interest  almost 
as  absorbing  as  the  political  campaign  of  that  fall, 
as  was  attested  by  the  crowd  that  rode  or  walked  to 
a  low  place  filled  Avith  mud  that  smelt  like  sul- 
phur, copperas,  iron,  and  every  other  thing  that 
one's  olfactories  would  revolt  at.  The  spring  Avas 
on  the  land  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Kirkham,  and  was  on  or 
near  the  southern  extension  of  Person  street.  Mr. 
Kirkham  dug  a  hole  in  the  mud  and  planked  it  up ; 
built  a  sort  of  paAdlion,  and  the  public  enjoA-ed  the 
evening  visits  to  the  rapidly  becoming  famous  Kirk- 
ham Spring.  If  the  water  was  ever  analyzed  I  do 
not  remember  who  did  it,  or  w^hat  the  analysis  dem- 
onstrated; but,  I  AA^ell  remember  how  exuberant 
were  Mr.  Kirkham's  expectations  of  amassing  a 
iortue  from  his  spring,  and  how  rejoiced  the  city 
AAas,  in  the  fact  that  it  had,  almost  within  its  cor- 
pt>rate  limits,  a  mineral  spring  Avhose  waters  smelt 
and  tasted  as  badly  as  the  waters  of  the  most  cele- 
brated spring  of  the  South.  For  a  year  or  two  the 
spring  continued  to  be  patronized,  and  but  for  an 
unfortunate  remark  made  by  some  person,  to  the 
13 


194  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

effect  that  the  mineral  (or  minerals)  with  which 
tlie  water  seemed  to  be  so  highly  impregnated, 
might,  after  all,  be  the  washings  of  that  part  of  the 
city  whose  waters  emptied  into  that  bottom,  filling 
it  with  filth  of  every  kind;  I  say,  but  for  that  re- 
mark the  spring  might  have  had  a  big  run.  But 
no  sooner  did  that  idea  get  afoot  than  did  certain 
gentlemen  take  the  task  upon  themselves  to  follow 
the  watershed  to  ascertain  whether  the  gentleman's 
tiieory  was  correct  or  false.  The  investigation  sat- 
isfied them  that  the  theory  was  correct,  and  then 
everybody  who  had  been  drinking  the  waters  of 
Kirkham's  Spring  felt  that  he  ought  to  take  a  dose 
of  ipecac.     And  Kirkham's  Spring  was  no  more. 

Nevertheless,  while  the  spring  was  in  good  stand- 
ing, we  young  people  had  just  as  good  a  time,  prom- 
enading down  to  it  and  returning,  as  the  twilight 
brought  out  the  stars;  and  were  just  as  romantic 
in  our  thoughts  and  feelings  as  if  Ave  had  been  visi- 
tors at  springs  whose  waters  floAved  out  of  a  pure 
rock  on  a  mountain  side. 

Mr.  Kirkham  Avas  sorely  distressed  over  the  down- 
fall of  his  pet  enterprise;  but  when  the  older  citi- 
zens, who  kncAV  the  history  of  the  whole  matter, 
showed  him  so  clearly  that  the  place  where  his 
spring  was  had  been  raised  from  a  cow-mire,  by  the 
deposits  that  had  come  from  slaughter  pens,  and 
numerous  gutters  had  brought  the  Avashings  of  the 
streets,  all  east  of  Wilmington  street,  he  had  to  ad- 
mit that  the  people  were  not  to  blame  for  turning 
against  his  mineral  Avater. 

I'm  in  a  quandary.  Things  are  getting  in  such 
a  fix  I  hardly  know  hoAV  to  pray  an  orthodox  prayer 
and,  at  the  same  time,  a  consistent  prayer.  To  be 
on  the  safe  side,  I  usually  fall  back  on  the  Lord's 
Prayer;  but  I  don't  get  more  than  half  through 
that  before  I  run  up  against  a  difficulty,  and  I  liaA^e 
to  leave  out  ''lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  de- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  195 

liver  us  from  evil,"  entirely;  for  when  I  remember 
that  our  people  are  educating  their  children  upon 
whiskey  money  and  this  whiskey  money  is  made 
by  leading  men  into  temptation  and  causing  them 
to  drink  and  spend  their  money  in  drunkenness 
that  we  may  educate  some  more  children,  it  would 
be  inconsistent  in  me  to  pray  the  Lord  to  keep  men 
from  being  tempted  to  drink,  because  that  would 
be  withholding  education  from  our  dear  children. 
So,  there  it  is. 

And,  then,  how  can  I  consistently  pray  that  our 
children  may  not  be  led  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
sinful  ways  of  the  world,  such  as  gambling  and 
dancing  and  drinking,  when  I  know  that  the  opin- 
ion of  the  good  mothers  is,  that  gambling  and  danc- 
ing and  drinking  at  receptions  (even  to  becoming 
"how-come-you-so''  sometimes),  are  not  any  harm, 
but  badges  of  social  superiority?  If  I  see  a  boy 
whose  health  is  well-nigh  ruined  by  smoking  cigar- 
ettes, I  may  be  sorry  for  him  and  orthodoxly  pray 
that  the  Lord  may  have  mercy  upon  his  soul,  and 
that  he  may,  when  he  leaves  this  world  of  inconsist- 
ejicies,  find  a  home  where  the  weak  are  never  tempt- 
ed ;  but  how  can  I  be  consistent  in  praying  the  Lord 
to  lead  us  not  into  temptation  of  cigarette  smok- 
ing? Don't  you  see  what  a  scrape  it  would  lead  me 
into?  So,  the  best  I  can  do  is  to  repeat,  "deliver 
ub  from  eviF'  (the  evil  we  uphold)  "by  taking  us 
home  to  glory,  after  that  evil  has  ruined  us." 

I  tried  to  reason  with  a  poor  drunken  man,  some- 
time ago,  about  drinking  and  spending  money  in  a 
sinful  indulgence;  but,  he  soon  knocked  the  dirt 
from  under  me  by  saying :  "I  buy  my  liquor  at  the 
dispensary,  and  that's  run  by  church  members,  and 
they  want  me  to  drink  that  they  may  have  money  to 
educate  the  children."  After  we  separated  I 
thought  it  all  over,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
tiiat,  to  be  consistent,  I  would  be  obliged  to  change 


196  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  Lord's  Prayer  a  little  and  make  it  read :  "Lead 
us  not  into  temptation  (except  in  certain  cases 
wherein  we  have  educational  interests,  and  where- 
in, also,  the  mothers  are  becoming  gamblers  and 
punch  guzzlers  for  society's  sake),  and  finally, 
Lord,  deliyer  us  from  all  evil,  when  we  can't  enjoy 
it  any  longer,  by  translating  us  to  the  city  of  gold, 
and  thine  shall  be  the  glory,"  etc. 

Yes,  I'm  in  a  quandary.  The  question  is :  Shall 
I  be  orthodox  in  theory  and  inconsistent  in  prac- 
tice? Or,  shall  I  make  my  practice  as  well  as  my 
theory  orthodox,  so  as  to  be  able  to  pray  the  Lord's 
Prayer  as  it  is?  I  will  leave  the  question  open  for 
debate. 

I  hope  I'll  be  better  next  week,  and  then,  perhaps, 
I'll  not  be  in  a  quandary. 


CHAPTER  XXVL 

Temperance  Campaign  of  1881 — How  the  Liquor 
Men  Talked  to  the  l^egroes — A  Church  Trial. 

What  a  wonderful  stride  has  public  sentiment 
made  on  the  prohibition  question  in  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century!  Twenty-three  years  ago,  there  was 
a  prohibition  campaign  in  this  State  that  was  al- 
most a  failure,  so  far  as  votes  were  concerned,  but, 
in  reality,  it  was  the  most  important  and  far-reach- 
ing movement  on  a  moral  line  that  had  ever  been 
made  in  the  old  Common Avealth.  The  Legislature, 
in  response  to  the  hundreds  of  petitions  that  were 
presented  to  that  body,  passed  a  bill  allowing  an 
election  to  be  held  on  the  question  of  prohibition, 
and  in  1881,  a  campaign  was  made  that  some  of  us 
can  never  forget.  In  the  early  part  of  the  cam- 
paign, it  seemed  that  the  measure  would  receive  an 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  197 

overAvhelming  majority  of  the  popular  vote.  All 
the  ministers,  white  and  colored,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions, in  the  State,  were  for  prohibition,  and  the 
colored  people,  if  anything,  were  more  favorable 
to  it  than  were  the  whites.  A  great  convention 
was  held  here  in  Kaleigh,  over  which  Judge  James 
C.  MacRae  presided,  and  such  was  the  enthusiasm 
manifested  that  one  could  hardly  see  how  the  State 
could  go  otherwise  than  for  prohibition.  But, 
somebody  discovered  that  there  were  elements  of 
politics  in  the  movement,  and  so  a  call  was  made 
for  a  meeting  of  the  Republican  State  Executive 
Committee,  to  consider  the  pros  and  cons  of  the 
matter.  The  committee  consisted  of  seven  men,  as 
1  remember,  and  five  of  them  came  together  here  in 
Raleigh,  and  after  talking  over  the  matter,  three 
of  the  fiA  e,  decided  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  array 
the  Republican  party  of  the  State  against  prohibi- 
tion, and  make  an  appeal  to  the  negroes  on  the 
score  of  politics,  telling  them  prohibition  w^as  a 
Democratic  measure  that  w^ould  take  away  their 
rights,  and  put  them  all  back  into  slavery.  That 
act  of  three  of  the  committee  was  published  and 
acquiesced  in,  as  the  dictum  of  the  Republican 
party  in  North  Carolina;  the  result  of  which  was 
the  great  bulk  of  the  negroes  turned  right  about 
and  were  as  much  opposed  to  the  movement  as  they 
had  before  favored  it.  The  Republican  party 
swapped  off  its  name  for  "The  Liquor  Dealers' 
Association,'^  under  which  name  two  campaigns 
^vere  conducted.  I  want  to  say  to  his  everlasting 
credit  that  Col.  J.  C.  L.  Harris  was  one  of  the  two 
committeemen  who  opposed  making  politics  out  of 
the  movement,  and  would  not  be  led  into  the  fight 
against  prohibition,  but  worked  for  it.  As  a  fur- 
ther consequence  of  that  political  move,  as  soon  as 
it  was  seen  the  negro  vote  would  be  cast  almost 
solidly  against  prohibition,  hundreds  of  white  men 


198  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

who  had  intended  to  vote  for  it,  began  to  ease  off, 
and  to  trim  their  sails  for  the  future.  They  did 
not  care  to  be  identified  with  a  moral  movement 
that  was,  in  their  opinion,  doomed  to  be  a  failure. 
So,  that,  it  was  a  forlorn  hope  almost  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  campaign.  Many  a  white  politi- 
cian who,  if  the  chances  had  been  better,  would 
have  been  a  staunch  friend  and  advocate  of  prohi- 
bition, played  weather-cock  for  awhile,  and  veered 
clear  around  to  the  whiskey  crowd,  when  he  became 
satisfied  how  the  wind  would  blow  on  election  day. 

I  was  sorry  for  some  of  them,  whom  I  knew. 
Their  better  judgments  and  their  consciences  pro- 
tested, but  they  were  afraid  of  the  whiskey  power, 
and  did  not  care  to  be  stranded  on  as  dry  a  thing 
as  prohibition.  I  heard  some  of  that  class  several 
times,  before  large  crowds  of  negroes,  who  were 
ignorant  and  very  much  afraid  they  might  be  put 
back  into  slavery  again,  and  this  is  about  the  speech 
they  made : 

"Fellow  citizens!"  they  would  say.  "These  are 
mighty  ticklish  times!''  ("Eh!  you  hear  dat,"  a 
negro  would  say.)  "Yes,  fellow-citizens,  I  know 
what  I  say,  when  I  tell  you  that  we  are  in  danger 
of  losing  our  most  sacred  right — the  right  to  eat 
and  drink  what  we  please."  ("Dat's  de  Lawd's 
trufe!")  "I'm  a  white  man  and  I've  always  voted 
the  white  ticket,  but,  my  fellow-citizens,  in  times 
like  these,  I  know  no  party  nor  color,  but  stand  on 
those  eternal  principles  of  independence  and  jus- 
tice which  our  forefathers  secured  to  us  by  the 
shedding  of  their  blood."  ("Bless  de  Lawd,  don't 
he  talk  sweet!")  "I  can't  help  it,  my  fellow-citi- 
zens, that  my  skin  is  white,  and  your's  is  black,  but 
I  don't  stand  on  the  color  of  a  man's  skin,  when 
my  brother  is  in  distress;  it's  my  duty  to  be  his 
fiiend,  though  he  be  as  white  as  snow  or  as  black 
as  the  ace  of  spades."     ("Dat's  de  way  ter  talk  it, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


199 


Anti-Prohibition  Speecli.— '  Fellow  Citizens— These  are  mighty  ticklish  times. 


200  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

gem'men,  dat's  de  way  ter  talk  it!")  ^'This  pro- 
hibition bill  is  the  most  infernal  and  diabolical 
thing  that  was  ever  concocted  by  the  enemies  of  a 
free  and  independent  people.''  ("Dat's  de  Lawd's 
trufe;  what'd  I  tell  you,  Br'er  Sam?'')  ''This  dam- 
nable bill,  my  fellow-citizens,  is  to  keep  us  from  tak- 
ing a  morning  dram  when  we  feel  badly ;  from  hav- 
ing a  little  in  the  house  for  snake  bites,  and  when 
the  old  woman  is  poorly,  and  from  even  making  a 
liltle  camphor  for  the  headache."  (''Dar,  now, 
you  hear  dat,  don't  you?")  ''I  tell  you  my  fellow- 
citizens,  as  sure  as  I  am  looking  into  your  honest 
And  intelligent  faces,  upon  which  I  see  a  determina- 
tJon,  writ  as  with  a  pen  of  steel,  to  defeat  this  iniqi- 
tous  measure,  there's  something  behind  it."  (Dat's 
your  God-a-mity's  trufe!")  ''Why,  fellow-citizens, 
Tin  a  member  of  the  church,  and  I  read  my  Bible, 
and  I  say  here,  before  these  prohibition  gentlemen, 
that  the  Bible  is  teetot'ally  against  prohibition." 
( "I  sed  so,  Br'er  Jim !" )  "My  fellow-citizens,  hear 
what  the  Bible  says :  'Give  strong  drink  to  him  that 
is  ready  to  perish.'"  ("Dat's  de  Avord.")  "Now, 
fellow-citizens,  Iioav  are  we  going  to  do  that  if  all 
the  strong  drink  is  voted  out?"  ("Yea,  Lawd,  dat's 
Avhat  I  want  ter  know!  Hit  'em  ergin!")  "And 
didn't  good  old  Paul  tell  his  son  Timothy  to  take  a 
little  wine  for  his  stomach's  sake,  and  for  his  often 
infirmities?"  ("Dar,  now!  Umph!")  "And 
weren't  old  father  Noah  a  preacher  for  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years,  and  didn't  he  get  drunk 
when  he  pleased?  And  I  dare  these  prohibition 
gentlemen  to  show  us  from  the  Bible  that  they  ever 
had  him  up  in  the  church."  ("Now  you  got  it, 
bless  the  Lawd!")  "And  didn't  the  blessed  Sav- 
iour say,  'Not  that  which  goeth  into  the  mouth  de- 
fileth  a  man,  but  that  which  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth?'  "  ("Now  you're  hittin'  'em  good!")  "And, 
fellow-citizens,  these  gentlemen  here  would  make 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  201 

you  believe  that  all  the  murders  are  the  result  of 
drinking  whiskey.  Will  they  say  that  Cain  had 
taken  a  drink  th^  day  he.  killed  his  brother  Abel? 
I  dare  them  to  do"  it;'?  ('^ow,  what's  tley  got  to 
say  for  deyselves?  Bless  de  Lawd^  de  Bible's  on 
our  side!") 

The  foregoing  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  speeches 
made  to  the  negroes,  and,  ignorant  as  they  were,  it 
^as  no  wonder  they  were  almost  solidly  opposed 
to  the  prohibition  bill  and  voted,  or  were  voted, 
a.o-ainst  it.  Some  people  said  Judge  MacRae's  po- 
litical future  would  be  ruined  because  he  presided 
over  the  prohibition  convention.  But,  they  were 
njistaken.  Two  years  later  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  got  as  good  a  vote 
as  the  balance  of  the  ticket. 

The  work  done  in  that  campaign  is  bearing  fruit 
to-day;  and  if  the  wheel  continues  to  turn,  and  I 
think  it  will,  a  few  more  revolutions  will  make  the 
Old  jSTorth  State  prohibition. 

"Not  that  which  goeth  into  the  nTouth,  but  that 
^^ilich  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  defileth  a  man,'' 
a  Scripture  which  the  liquor  men  quoted  frequently 
to  prove  that  liquor  drinking  was  no  harm,  thor- 
oughly satisfied  the  average  negro.  I  heard  of  a 
church  trial,  which  took  place,  about  that  time,  in 
a  colored  congregation.  Sam  Black  Avas  arraigned 
before  the  church  for  being  drunk,  and  several  wit- 
nesses testified  that  he  was  not  only  drunk,  but  that 
he  was  "dead  drunk,"  and  had  to  be  "toted  in,"  to 
keep  him  away  from  the  hogs. 

The  moderator,  having  adjusted  his  brass-rimmed 
spectacles  and  groaned  deeply  and  piously,  re- 
marked, looking  in  the  direction  of  the  accused: 
"This  is  a  mity  ser'ous  matter,  brethren,  and  we 
must  be  keerful  how  we  perceed  wid  de  perceedins. 
Dey's  allers  two  sides  to  a  pancake,  and  ef  we 
don't  see  bote  sides,  how  we  gwine  to  tell  which  is 


y 


202  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

de  best  side  or  de  worse  side?  I  dare  fore  a'point 
Br'er  Juliis  Seezer  Jones  to  persecute  de  brother, 
and  I  a'point  Br'er  George  Washington  Smith  to 
'fend  him.     We'll  now  perceed  with  de  pereeedins." 

The  attorneys  took  their  positions  and  Sam  Black 
was  brought  to  the  front  and  required,  by  the  mod- 
el a  tor,  to  stand  up  and  make  his  confession,  which 
he  did  in  a  few  words,  saying :  "I  don't  no  nuffin' 
'bout  de  fuss  dey's  raisin'  'gin  me;  all  I  no  is,  I 
tuck  wun  or  two  drinks  wid  Br'er  Peter  Snow,  and 
es  I  was  gwine  'long  home  I  got  tired,  as  it  were,  in 
my  limbs,  and  lade  down  to  rest.  When  I  waked 
up  I  was  in  my  own  cabin  and  Mandy,  dat's  my 
wife,  was  right  dar,  and  she'll  tell  you  I  was  jest 
as  sober  as  a  jedge." 

Peter  Snow  testified  that  Sam  took  at  least  a 
dozen  drinks,  but  he  didn't  say  a  bad  word  as  he 
heard.  Several  other  witnesses  testified  to  about 
the  same.  Whereupon  Julius  Caesar  Jones  arose 
and  said : 

"Mr.  Moderator,  it's  mity  cleer  to  my  mind  dat 
Br'er  Sam  was  drunk,  and  dat  he's  fotch  an  ever- 
lastin'  disgrace  on  dis  er  church,  and  I  move  dat  he 
be  turned  out." 

"But,  Mr.  Moderator,"  said  George  Washington 
Smith,  "Br'er  Sam  mout  a  bin  drunk,  but  all  the 
witnesses  say  he  didn't  use  a  bad  word;  and  you  no 
de  Scripture  ses  dat  old  Noah  got  drunk  as  often  as 
he  pleased  and  dey  didn't  turn  him  outen  the 
church,  for  I  hearn  a  white  man  say  so.  I  move 
T^  e  don't  turn  Br'er  Sam  out." 

The  Moderator  said:  "We've  hearn  bofe  sides, 
and  'cording  to  de  evidence,  dar's  nothing  agin  Br'er 
Sam,  'ceptin',  maybe,  he  mout  o'  tuck  too  much  at 
a  drink,  and  it  mout  o'  flew  into  his  hed.  'Tain't 
been  proved  dat  he  sed  enny  bad  words,  or  dat  enny- 
thing  perceeded  out'n  his  mouf;  darefore,  I  shall 
rule  dat  Br'er  Sam  is  in  good  standing  in  dis  ere 
church  ef — " 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  203 

'^Biit,  Br'er  Moderator/'  said  Julius  Csesar 
Jones,  ^^it  can  be  proved  dat  something  did  perceed 
out'n  Br'er  Sam's  mouf.  I  call  sister  Mandy  Black 
to  de  witness  stand." 

"I'm  here!"  sister  Mandy  said. 

"Sister  Mandy,  tell  us  what  Br'er  Sam  dun  when 
dey  fotch  him  into  de  house." 

"He  didn't  do  a  thing,  but  lade  rite  dar  and 
groaned  and  sed,  'O  Lordy,  O  Lordy,  O  Lordy,  I'm 
so  sick !  I'm  so  sick !  I'm  so  sick !'  till  all  at  once 
Le  sot  inter  heavin'  and  a  heavin',  and  a  heayin', 
and  de  fust  thing  I  no'd  he'd  throwed  up  all  over 
de  bed  and  de  floor,  and  den  he  sot  up  and  sed  he 
felt  better." 

"Stop  right  dar,"  said  the  moderator ;  "and,  Sam, 
you  stand  up  and  hear  de  righteous  sentence  dat's 
gwine  to  be  recorded  agin  you.  It's  bin  proved  by 
your  own  wife  dat  arter  you  drunk  dat  licker  you 
turned  sick  and  throwed  it  up.  Now,  'cording  to 
de  Scripture,  Br'er  Sam,  you'se  defiled  yourself 
and  ain't  fit  to  be  a  member  of  dis  church  no  longer. 
Old  Br'er  Noah  got  drunk,  but  dey  never  turned 
him  out'n  de  church  'cause  arter  he  drunk  his  licker 
he  didn't  let  it  perceed  out'n  his  mouf,  to  defile 
him." 

And  Sam  was  turned  out,  not  because  he  got 
drunk,  but  because  he  "throwed  up." 

As  ridiculous  as  it  may  seem,  just  such  nonsense 
characterized  the  campaign  made  by  the  Liquor 
Dealers'  Association,  against  prohibition  in  1881. 
It  would  make  some  men  blush,  and  might  make 
their  families  feel  badly,  to  call  their  names;  so,  I 
won't  do  it.  But  I  see  the  men  occasionally  who 
carried  their  Bibles  around  to  prove  to  the  ignorant 
that  whiskey  drinking  and  even  drunkenness  were 
n(;  harm,  but,  on  the  contrary,  were  defended  by 
holy  writ. 

What  terrible  disappointments  there  are  likely 


204  WHITAKEirS    REMINISCENCES, 

to  be  in  the  next  world  when  all  the  rascalities  of 
life  are  exposed  and  all  accounts  are  squared  up! 
Then,  it  will  be  seen  how  little  the  average  politi- 
cian cared  for  his  country,  and  how  much  of  selfish- 
ness and  little  of  patriotism  there  were  in  those 
whom  we  considered  our  wisest,  purest  and  great- 
est. If  there  were  no  other  reason  for  a  general 
judgment,  it  is  needed  to  show  us  all  up  as  we  are. 
And,  inasmuch  as  there  is  to  be  a  looking  into 
and  a  squaring  up  of  all  life's  affairs,  would  it  not 
be  better,  while  we  are  making  history,  to  make  it 
so  that  it  will  neither  shame  us  in  this  life  nor  con- 
demn us  at  the  judgment? 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Gov.  Zehulon  B.  Yance  and  Gen.  Robert  B.  Vance — 
Ttvo  Distingimhed  Men — Judge   Gaston. 

Mr.  William'  Womble,  a  young  man  of  about  my 
age,  whom  I  have  known  for  fifty  years,  stopped  me 
in  the  market  a  few  evenings  ago  to  tell  me  how 
much  he  was  enjoying  my  reminiscences,  and,  while 
talking,  gave  me  an  incident  that  is  worthy  of  a 
place  in  history.  Mr.  Womble  lives  on  East  Har- 
gett  street,  and  it  was  just  beyond  his  home  that 
Aunt  Abby  House  spent  her  last  days,  in  a  little 
cottage  which  Maj.  John  Gatling,  Sheriff  Dunn, 
and  other  Confederate  soldiers  built  for  her  in 
token  of  their  gratitude  for  what  "Aunt  Abby''  did 
for  them,  and  the  soldiers  generally,  in  the  way  of 
a  nurse,  in  the  camp.  ^Ir.  Womble  was,  therefore, 
a  near  neighbor  to  "Aunt  Abby,"  and  knew  what 
happened  every  day.  He  said  Governor  Vance  fre- 
quently went  to  see  the  old  woman  and  would  sit 
aod  talk  with  her,  "And,"  said  he,  "I'll  tell  you 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  205 

what  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes :  Zeb  Vance  coming 
to  my  well,  drawing  water  and  carrying  a  bucket 
full  to  ^Aunt  Abby/  when  she  was  too  helpless  to 
wait  on  herself." 

The  reader  may  say  that  was  doing  no  more  than 
any  one  else  ought  to  have  done,  to  which  I  agree; 
but,  it  is  not  an  everyday  affair  to  see  a  Governor 
or  a  Senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
visiting  on  the  outskirts  of  a  city  and  ministering 
to  the  comforts  of  an  old  Avoman.  The  incident  is 
worthy  of  a  historic  setting,  as  it  shows  how  warm 
a  heart  the  Governor  possessed,  and  how  true  he 
was  to  the  poorest  and  humblest  in  life. 

While  I  am  speaking  of  Governor  Vance,  I  will 
relate  a  story  he  told  on  himself  during  the  canvass 
he  made  for  his  second  term  as  Governor.  It  is 
known,  of  course,  that  he  was  elected  the  first  time 
while  Colonel  of  the  26th  Regiment,  and  in  active 
service  in  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  And  it 
is  also  known  that  his  men  almost  idolized  him; 
and,  of  course,  the  name  of  Vance  w^as  a  household 
word  in  every  home  from  w^hich  a  member  of  his 
regiment  went.  The  mothers,  wives,  sisters  and 
sweethearts  who  had  heard,  from  their  friends  in 
the  army,  so  many  praises  of  "Zeb  Vance,"  natu- 
rally wanted  to  see  him ;  and  so,  when  the  Governor 
made  a  canvass  of  the  State,  all  the  women,  in  cer- 
tain counties  from  which  the  companies  making  up 
his  regiment  were  drawn,  went  out  to  see  him.  I 
do  not  remember  in  what  county  the  incident  oc- 
curred ;  but,  as  the  story  w^as  told,  the  Governor  and 
several  of  his  political  friends  were  walking  in  the 
direction  of  the  place  of  speaking  one  day,  while  on 
either  side  of  the  street  hundreds  of  women,  with  a 
sprinkling  of  men,  were  waiting  to  see  the  "Old  Col- 
onel." As  they  were  going  along,  one  woman  was 
heard  to  say :  "I've  come  ten  miles  this  morning  just 
to  see  Zeb  Vance.     Bless  his  soul,  I  love  him  good 


206  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

er.ough  to  hug  and  kiss  him."  The  Governor  was 
about  opposite  the  woman  speaking,  and  turning 
toward  her,  he  said :  "God  bless  you,  madam,  come 
to  my  arms !''  And  the  Governor  said  as  he  laugh- 
ingly told  the  story  to  a  parcel  of  gentlemen  in  this 
city  afterwards :  "The  woman  and  I  gave  each  other 
a  good  hugging." 

"Yes,"  said  the  Governor,  "her  husband  was  one 
of  my  men,  and  a  good  soldier,  and  he  seemed  to 
take  a  delight  in  coming  to  my  tent  and  listening  to 
me  and  other  officers,  and  that  accounts,  I  suppose, 
for  his  wife's  desire  to  see  me.  I  don't  know  w^hy 
she  wanted  to  hug  and  kiss  me,  unless  it  was  be- 
cause her  husband  had  told  her  what  a  good  looking 
fellow  I  was." 

"Did  you  really  hug  and  kiss  her,  Governor?"  a 
bystander  asked. 

"I  will  give  you  her  name,  and  you  can  write  and 
ask  her  about  it.  I  think  she'll  tell  you  that  the  old 
man  never  gave  her  a  better  squeezing  than  I  gave 
her." 

"Was  she  good  looking,  Governor?"  some  one 
asked. 

"I  don't  know;  I  never  stand  on  looks  in  an  en- 
gagement of  that  kind.  The  thing  had  to  be  did, 
and  I  did  it  in  first-class  style." 

A  Charlotte  gentleman  told  me  two  or  three  sto- 
ries of  Governor  Vance  that  occurred  while  he  lived 
in  that  city,  after  the  war,  which  I  have  never  seen 
VA  print. 

Judge  Moore  was  holding  court  in  Charlotte,  and, 
as  the  story  goes,  there  was  at  that  time  a  man 
named  Moore,  who  sold  pipes  and  stems  about  the 
door  at  the  court-house.  Under  the  stairway  that 
led  up  into  the  court-room,  the  old  man  had  a  rest- 
ing place  and  sort  of  depository.  There  he  was 
from  morning  until  night,  and  ever  and  anon  he 
ligged  up  a  pipe  for  a  countryman  and  pocketed  a 
nickel. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  207 

One  day,  after  the  adjournment  of  court,  Judge 
^loore  and  Governor  Vance  came  down  the  stairway 
together,  and  had  to  pass,  as  they  were  going  out, 
the  old  pipe  man. 

'^Hold  on.  Judge,"  said  Vance;  "I  want  to  intro- 
duce you  to  my  friend,  Mr.  Moore,  a  name-sake  of 
yours,  by  the  way;  a  man,  who  though  not  a  judge 
of  law,  is  a  judge  of  a  good  pipe-stem,  and  can  rig 
up  a  pipe  in  a  jiffy,  for  a  nickel,  fit  for  any  judge 
to  smoke.'' 

They  shook  hands,  the  Judge  saying  how  pleased 
he  was  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  a  name-sake, 
and  how  glad  he  was  to  be  able  to  get  hold  of  a  real, 
old-fashioned  reed-root  pipe-stem,  and  an  honest  old 
ciay  pipe  for  a  nickel.  The  pipe  was  rigged  up,  the 
nickel  paid,  and  the  Judge  and  Vance  went  out. 

The  old  fellow  never  felt  happier  than  at  that 
moment,  when  he  said:  "There  ain't  but  one  Zeb 
Vance  in  this  world.  Stopped  to  introduce  Judge 
Moore  to  his  name-sake,  Mr.  Moore." 

The  old  fellow  jumped  up  and  popped  his  heels 
together,  while  repeating  several  times,  "Mr. 
Moore."  "Mr.  Moore."  "The  Jedge's  name-sake." 
"Hurrah  for  old  Zeb!" 

The  Governor  was  sitting  in  the  hotel  office  in 
Charlotte  one  cold  day,  his  feet  propped  up,  while 
he  leaned  back  in  an  office  chair.  Two  men,  who, 
from  their  appearance,  had  brought  wood  to  mar- 
ket, opened  the  outer  door  and  peered  in,  one  of 
them  saying  as  they  did  so :  "Ain't  that  old  Zeb  sit- 
ting there?"  Vance  heard  it,  and  looking  over  his 
shoulder  as  he  leaned  farther  back,  he  exclaimed: 
"Hello,  old  Stick-in-the-Mud  and  Turnip  Tops! 
Come  right  here  and  give  me  your  paws !  How  are 
all  at  home,  the  wives  and  the  babies?" 

After  talking  a  moment  or  two  they  went  out, 
sjid  one  said  to  the  other  as  they  reached  the  street, 
"Ain't  old  Zeb  the  best  felloAV  vou  ever  saw?     He 


208  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

krows  eYerybody,  and  eyen  knows  their  names/' 
He  had  called  them  "Stick-iu-the-Mud''  and  'Tur- 
nii^  Tops." 

The  Goyernor  was  coming  from  Asheyille  down 
to  Charlotte  one  day,  and  there  happened  to  be  a 
yery  talkatiye  gentleman  on  the  car  he  did  not  care 
to  be  familiar  with,  so  the  Goyernor  took  out  his 
Bible  and  began  to  read.  The  gentleman  made  sev- 
eral attempts  to  engage  the  Governor  in  conversa- 
tion, but  he  kept  his  eyes  on  his  Bible  and  answered 
in  monosyllables.  At  length  the  gentleman,  in  a 
tone  of  impatience,  remarked :  ^^You  seem  to  be  very 
mnch  interested  in  your  Bible." 

^^I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  the  Governor,  "I  am 
obliged  to  read.  My  wife  laid  off  a  task  for  me  to 
read  while  gone,  and  it  will  take  about  all  the  time 
I  have  left  to  finish." 

^^But,"  said  the  gentleman,  "Mrs.  Vance  will  not 
think  to  ask  you  about  it." 

"Your  wife  might  not  think  of  such  a  thing,  but 
when  my  wife  lays  off  a  task  that  means  I've  got  to 
do  the  reading ;  so  you  will  please  excuse  me."  And 
he  read  on  without  further  interruption. 

As  the  Senate  adjourned  one  Saturday  evening, 
Senator  Hoar  repeated,  in  Vance's  presence,  that 
ojd  spelling-book  verse: 

•'How  pleasant  is  Saturday  night, 

When  I've  tried  all  the  week  to  be  good, 
Not  spoken  a  word  that  was  bad 
But  obliged  every  one  that  I  could." 

"As  bad  as  I  am,"  replied  Vance,  "I'm  too  con- 
scientious to  lie  like  that." 

I  saw  Senator  Vance  the  last  time  he  was  in  Ral- 
eigh, before  his  death.  He  did  not  seem  to  recog- 
nize me  when  I  spoke  to  him.  "I  know  you,"  he 
Sfciid,  "but  I  find  I  am  forgetting  names  in  my  old 
age.  Don't  tell  me  Avho  you  are;  I  am  thinking." 
In  a  moment  he  said :    "Mr.   Whitaker,  I  should 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  209 

not  have  known  you  but  for  your  voice;  I  never 
fcrget  voices."  And  so  lie  knew  me,  and  we  chatted 
pleasantly  for  a  few  moments;  the  last  time  I  ever 
saw  him. 

I  wish  to  speak  of  the  Senator's  brother,  General 
Eobert  B.  Vance.  In  addition  to  the  many  valua- 
ble services  rendered  by  him  to  his  countiy,  as  citi- 
zen, soldier  and  legislator,  and  the  still  more  valu- 
able services  given  to  home,  Sunday  school  and 
church,  he  was  a  life-long  temperance  man,  and 
aided  largely,  immediately  after  the  Avar,  in  build- 
ing up  the  Friends  of  Temperance;  of  which  order 
he  was  the  president  in  1867-8,  and  for  which,  as 
long  as  he  lived,  he  never  ceased  to  work.  I  shall 
ahvays  hold  in  memory  our  first  meeting.  He  had 
been  reading  my  paper  and  was,  of  course,  familiar 
with  my  name,  but  had  no  more  idea  how  I  looked 
than  I  had  how  he  looked.  He  had  made  up  his 
mind,  no  doubt,  to  see  in  me  a  portly,  handsome  fel- 
lv>w;  and  I  had  formed  the  opinion  that  General 
^^ance  was  an  austere  looking  man,  of  martial  bear- 
ing, whose  very  presence  would  make  the  air  chilly. 
When  he  wrote  me  that  he  was  coming  to  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons,  and  desired  to  get  board  with  me, 
Avife  and  I  held  a  counsel,  and  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  our  house  and  fare  would  not  at  all  do,  for 
tiie  entertainment  of  so  distinguished  a  man,  and 
our  opinion  was  that  we  ought  to  write  to  him  and 
assure  him  of  our  high  esteem,  but  to  say  to  him 
frankly,  we  did  not  think  our  accommodations 
Avould  satisfy  him.  But  we  did  not  so  write ;  finally 
concluding  we  would  let  him  come,  and  we'd  do  the 
best  we  could  for  him.  He  came.  I  met  him  at 
thi  door.  He  announced  his  name;  I  gave  mine. 
''And  this  is  R.  H.  Whitaker!''  he  exclaimed,  in 
evndent  disappointment.  "And  this  is  Gen.  Robert 
B.  Vance !"  I  answered,  with  equal  disappointment. 
I  really  thought,  as  I  saAv  him,  at  the  door,  in  his 
14 


210  WHITAKER\S    REMINISCE^'CES, 

long-tail  overcoat,  with  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  on  his 
aim,  and  a  slouched  hat  pulled  well  down  on  his 
head,  that  he  was  some  circuit  rider,  or,  perhaps, 
some  member  of  the  Grand  Lodge  from  a  neighbor- 
ing county.  '"Where's  Sister  Whitaker?''  he  asked, 
and  before.  I  had  recovered  from  my  pleasant  disap- 
pointment, he  Avas  in  the  sitting-room,  perfectly  at 
home,  and  everything  was  as  easy  as  an  old  shoe. 
He  remained  with  us  for  a  week,  and  I  am  sure  that 
we  could  not  have  enjoyed  each  other  more  if  we  had 
been  raised  together,  from  boys.  From  that  visit, 
to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  called  upon  us  whenever 
he  came  to  Ealeigh.  He  was  a  pleasant  speaker, 
and  did  good  whenever  he  spoke,  for,  in  addition  to 
the  strength  of  the  argument  he  was  making,  he 
had  a  fund  of  humor  upon  which  he  drew,  that  al- 
ways made  his  speeches  spicy  as  well  as  strong. 
We  were  born  very  near  the  same  date,  and,  of 
course,  I  can  not  hope  to  remain  very  much  longer 
here;  but  the  spring  time  of  the  life  eternal  will  be 
so  sweet  to  those  who  knew  each  other  in  this  short 
life,  should  they  be  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  beyond 
the  skies. 

A  good  lady,  writing  from  Burgaw,  asks  me  for 
some  information  about  old-time  friends,  away  back 
in  the  thirties,  when  she  was  a  pupil  of  Mrs.  Taylor, 
of  this  city,  and  alludes  to  a  building  on  the  lot 
known  as  Judge  Gaston's  office.  By  the  way,  do 
the  school  children  of  this  city  know  that  those 
thrilling  verses  known  as  the  "'Old  North  State" 
were  composed  by  Judge  Gaston  in  that  office,  on 
the  corner  of  Hargett  and  Salisbury  streets,  oppo- 
site Mr.  John  Brown's  undertaking  establishment? 
I  think  it  would  be  a  very  appropriate  thing  for 
the  children  to  gather  around  that  corner,  on  the 
11)  th  day  of  each  September,  his  birthday,  and  sing 
with  all  the  spirit,  and  fervor,  and  sweetness  which 
their  young  souls  can  throw  into  the  song,  this  pa- 
ti'iotic  stanza : 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  211 

''Carolina!  Carolina!  Heaven's  blessings  attend  her! 
While  we  live,  we  will  cherish,  protect  and  defend  her; 
Though  the  scorner  may  sneer  at,  and  witlings  defame  her, 
Cm-  hearts  swell  with  gladness  whenever  we  name  her. 

Hm-rah !  Hmrah  !  the  Old  North  State  forever ! 
Hm-rah !  Hm-rah  !  for  the  good  Old  North  State !  " 

After  which  some  one,  well  read  in  the  life  of 
Judge  Gaston,  might  deliver  a  short  oration,  such 
as  the  smallest  child  could  understand,  illustrative 
of  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  mentioning,  of 
course,  other  distinguished  men  who  were  Mr.  Gas- 
ton's compeers  and  fellow-laborers.  It  seems  to  me 
that  such  a  service  would  be  very  beautiful  and 
interesting,  not  only  to  the  children  but  to  all  lovers 
of  history — especially  that  which  pertains  to  our 
own  State  and  people.  The  war  cut  the  last  cen- 
tury in  twain,  and  most  of  the  people  alive  now 
were  born  near  the  beginning  of,  or  since  the  war, 
and  with  them  history  goes  back  only  to  the  war 
period.  The  men  and  events  back  of  it  seem  to 
them  more  like  mythology  than  reality.  Our  chil- 
dren here  in  the  capital  have  need  to  be  reminded 
that  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
North  Carolina  had  greater  men,  in  many  respects, 
than  have  lived  since  the  war,  one  of  whom  was 
Judge  William  Gaston,  born  in  New  Bern,  Sept.  19, 
1778,  and  died  in  Raleigh,  Jan.  23,  1844. 


212  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Married  a  Widoiver  icitli  Seven  Children — Called 
Her  '^Eone'if'  and  ^'Darling''--  Eoio  she  Lost 
her  Pet  Name — Soine  of  her  Pranks — Keeping 
''Peep  Day;'  Etc. 

I  am  sure  that  some  of  my  readers  would  prefer 
a  romance  rather  than  read  a  stor}'  of  reconstruc- 
tion days  and  carpet-bagism.  So  believing,  I'll 
turn  this  week  to  the  romantic  side  of  life,  and  tell 
a  story  of  love,  courtship,  marriage  and  the  happen- 
ings that  spoiled  the  romance.  I  don't  propose  to 
have  but  one  hero  and  one  heroine  in  this  story,  but 
a  number  of  characters  may  drop  in,  as  the  narra- 
tive proceeds. 

Once  upon  a  time,  I  need  not  say  where  or  when, 
I  knew  a  widow  who  was  fond  of  talking  about  the 
past;  and,  if  the  reader  will  agree  to  ask  no  ques- 
tions, I'll  tell  some  of  the  ludicrous  things  I  used 
to  hear  her  say  of  her  young  life,  her  marriage  to  a 
widower,  with  seven  children,  and  how  she  spent 
her  wedded  life. 

"I  had  plenty  of  beaux,"  she  said;  ^nice  young 
fellows,  and  I  loved  'em  every  one,  and  I  hated  any 
girl  that  either  of  those  boys  would  fly  around.  Of 
course  I  didn't  expect  to  marry  all  of  them,  but  as 
I  didn't  know  which  one  I  loved  best,  nor  which  one 
might  ask  me  to  marry  him,  I  couldn't  bear  the  idea 
of  seeing  any  of  them  paying  attention  to  other 
girls.  Yes,  I  was  as  jealous  as  I  could  be,  and 
sometimes  I  was  just  that  miserable  I  couldn't  say 
my  prayers,  but  for  all  that  I  would  carry  a  high 
head,  for  I  was  too  proud  to  let  anybody  know  that 
I  cared  a  straw  for  any  fellow. 

"I  was  not  a  day  older  than  twenty  years  when  a 
widower,  with  seven  children,  turned  up.     He  was 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  213 

as  old  again  as  I  was;  mighty  nigh  as  old  as  my 
father.  I  saw  him  at  church  one  Sunday,  just  about 
the  time  he'd  begun  to  spruce  up  after  his  wife  died. 
I  almost  killed  myself  a  laughing  Avhen  some  one 
told  me  that  the  old  widower  had  been  talking  about 
courting  me.  But  it  wasn't  long  before  he  came, 
and  he  popped  the  question  so  sudden  it  liked  to 
have  taken  my  breath.  Of  course  I  didn't  intend  to 
have  him,  but  as  these  young  chaps  had  not  asked 
me,  I  thought  I  could  flirt  a  little  with  the  old  man, 
and  maybe  that  Avould  hurry  them  up  to  say  some- 
thing. If  they  didn't,  why  I  could  have  a  good 
time  anyhow.  I  didn't  know  as  much  then  as  I 
learned  afterwards,  or  I  never  would  have  gotten 
into  the  scrape  I  did.  Some  of  those  boys  began 
to  tease  me  about  my  "old  beau,"  asking  me  wiien  I 
and  the  ^old  grandfather'  were  going  to  get  married. 
That  made  me  mad,  and  I  said  in  as  haughty  a  man- 
ner as  possible :  ^It's  better  to  be  an  old  man's  dar- 
ling than  a  young  man's  slave,'  and  so  I  made  up 
my  mind,  just  to  worry  the  boys,  that  I'd  marry  the 
old  man  and  be  a  ^darling.'  We  were  married.  He 
borrowed  a  horse  and  buggy  to  carry  me  home,  and 
when  we  went  through  town,  and  everybody  came 
out  of  the  stores  or  put  their  heads  out  of  the  win- 
dows to  see  us  go  by,  I  was  so  happy  I  felt  like  a  red 
bird  sailing  through  the  air.  I  was  then  ^Mrs.  Clay 
Shamlin.'  Mr.  Shamlin  didn't  call  me  by  my  name 
at  all.  It  was  ^darling'  and  ^honey'  and  ^sugar,' 
until  I  actually  forgot  that  my  name  was  Mary. 

"After  we  had  been  married  a  week  we  went  back 
to  my  old  home,  and  father  called  us  out  to  the  cow- 
lot,  Mr.  Shamlin  and  me,  and  said :  ^I  am  going  to 
give  you  that  milk  cow^,  or  if  you  prefer  it,  I'll  give 
you  that  young  steer.'  I  said,  ^Mr.  Shamlin,  you 
take  your  choice.'  But  he  said,  ^No,  darling,  you 
take  your  choice.'  ^No,'  said  I,  ^I  want  you  to  have 
your  choice.'     ^No,  honey,'  said  he,  ^I  want  you  to 


214  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

htive  your  choice.'  ^I  do  wish/  said  I,  ^you  would 
take  your  choice.'  ^I  have  no  choice,  sugar/  said 
he,  ^but  I  do  hope  that  "my  darling"  will  choose 
for  me.'  Who  could  help  choosing  after  all  that 
sweetness?  I  never  felt  so  good  in  all  my  life  as  I 
did  standing  there  in  that  cow-lot,  for  my  father 
had  heard,  with  his  own  ears,  what  a  ^darling'  his 
daughter  was.  But,  Avhat  a  responsibility  rested 
upon  me — making  a  choice  between  a  good  milk 
cow  and  a  three-year-old  steer?  I  thought  for  a 
moment.  I  remembered  that  Mr.  Shamlin  had  a 
steer  about  the  same  age  and  size  of  that  one,  and  I 
jast  knew  that  he  would  be  glad  to  have  another  to 
work  with  him ;  so,  stepping  forward,  and  touching 
the  young  steer,  I  said,  ^We  will  take  this,  Mr. 
Shamlin.'  ^You  darling,'  he  said.  Then  I  knew 
the  steer  was  his  choice;  but,  oh,  what  a  mistake 
the  selection  turned  out  to  be!  How  I  wished  af- 
terwards I'd  taken  the  cow! 

"The  steer  was  taken  home  in  a  few  days  and  the 
two  were  roped  and  yoked,  and  their  tails  tied  to- 
gether, (as  has  to  be  done  in  breaking  young 
steers),  and  when  Mr.  Shamlin  had  tied  them  up 
by  the  side  of  the  barn,  he  called  me  out  to  see  them 
— see  what  a  pretty  pair  they  were — and  putting 
his  arm  around  my  waist  he  said,  just  as  sweetly,  as 
if  his  mouth  had  been  filled  with  candy :  ^Honey,  I 
am  so  glad  that  you  took  the  steer.'  And  just  be- 
fore he  went  in  the  field  to  work,  he  came  to  the 
kitchen  door  and  said,  ^Darling,  keep  your  eyes  on 
the  steers  'till  I  come  back,'  and  I  said  I  would.  And 
I  did.  Who  could  help  thinking  about  a  yoke  of 
steers  all  the  time,  after  being  called  so  many 
sweet  names?  It  had  not  been  more  than  ten  min- 
utes, after  I  had  looked  and  seen  the  steers  were 
standing  there  all  right,  before  I  heard  Mr.  Sham- 
lin call :  ^Mary !  Mary !'  I  did  not  think  he  was 
calling  me,  for  my  name  was  ^honey' ;  I  thought  he 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  215 


Mrs.  Shamlin.— -The  last  time  he  called  me  honey. 


216  \yHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

Avas  calling  his  twelve-year-old  daughter,  whose 
name  was  Mary,  so  I  went  on  with  my  cooking. 
Again  he  called :  ^You,  Mary !'  and  I  wondered  why 
his  daughter  did  not  ansAver.  So  I  went  to  the 
door  to  see  who  he  was  calling.  As  I  did  so  he  saw 
me,  and  baAvled  out:  'Get  the  axe  and  run  doAvn 
hr-re,  you  good  for  nothing  huzzy;  run,  I  tell  you!' 
I  was  scared  half  to  death,  for  I'd  neA^er  been  called 
a  huzzy  before  in  all  my  life.  When  I  got  to  the 
barn,  there  lay  one  of  the  steers,  his  horns  run  into 
a  crack  of  the  barn,  his  eyes  rolled  up  as  if  he  AA^as 
gazing  at  the  sun,  and  Mr.  Shamlin  was  trying  to 
held  him  still  to  keep  him  from  breaking  his  neck. 
I  was  that  scared  I  didn't  have  a  bit  of  sense,  and 
I  know  I  must  haAe  looked  like  a  fool,  when  he 
bci  wled  out  at  me :  'I  thought  I  told  you  to  watch 
these  steers !'  'I-I  d-d-did  aa -w  w-Avatch  'em,'  said  I, 
a^l  over  in  a  tremble. 

'^  'No  you  didn't,  you  lying  huzzy ;  take  the  axe 
and  cut  the  bow,  and  do  it  quick!' 

"I  hacked  and  I  hacked,  and  after  a  Avhile  I  cut 
it  in  two.  'Now  take  the  knife  and  cut  their  tails 
apart.'  I  run  around  and  cut  the  string  that  held 
their  tails  together,  and  the  steer  got  up.  But  right 
tiiere  and  then  I  lost  my  pet  names.  From  that 
day  until  the  day  of  his  death  I  never  heard  any- 
thing more  of  'honey,'  or  'darling,'  or  'sugar,'  but, 
Avhen  any  of  those  old-time  beaux  Avould  see  me 
they'd  ask  me  how  the  steers  Avere  doing.  Yes,  he 
had  seven  children  Avhen  I  married  him,  for  me  to 
look  after;  I  had  seA^en  more — fourteen  in  all.  I 
paid  right  dearly  for  the  priA'ilege  of  being  an  old 
man's  darling,  didn't  I?  I  have  had  a  pretty  hard 
time  in  my  life,  but  I'a  e  had  a  sight  of  pleasure,  too. 
I  soon  cut  my  eye-teeth  and  learned  to  take  things 
as  they  came,  and,  taking  it  all  together,  I  don't 
reckon  I'd  done  any  better  if  I'd  married  one  of 
those  young  felloAvs.     I'ac  ahvays  had  something 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  217 

to  eat,  though,  I  must  admit  that  sometimes  I  could 
have  eat  more  if  we  had  had  it.  We  didn't  have 
^peep-days'  very  often,  but  did  have  them  occasion- 
ally, and  somebody  would  come  every  time.  Don't 
know  what  I  mean  by  ^peep-day'  ?  I  thought  every- 
body had  a  peep-day,  once  in  a  while.  When  you 
are  out  of  everj^thing  to  eat  except  a  corn-meal  hoe- 
cake,  or  a  few  roasted  potatoes,  you  are  bound  to 
keep  a  peep-day: — Just  shut  the  doors  and  keep 
some  of  the  children  peeping  through  a  crack,  or 
the  key-hole,  and  if  they  see  any  one  coming,  the 
alarm  is  given,  and  then  you  lie  low  and  keep  dark, 
tc  make  'em  think  there's  no  one  at  home.  One 
day  one  of  the  children  on  the  lookout  said :  ^Mam- 
my, I  do  believe  the  preacher's  coming!  Yes,  he's 
turned  in;  he's  getting  out'n  his  buggy.  Mammy, 
he's  giving  his  horse  fodder,  and  he's  coming  right 
in.'  ^Yes,'  said  I,  ^and  he's  expecting  to  get  dinner 
here,  and  we've  only  got  one  roasting  of  potatoes.' 
I  peeped  through  the  crack  and  saw  he  Avas  mighty 
nigh  the  door.  I  knowed  I'd  have  to  let  him  in,  for 
you  can't  fool  a  preacher ;  so  I  opened  the  door,  and, 
in  my  liveliest  and  most  cordial  manner,  said: 
^Brother  Kicks,  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you.  I  was  just 
a  thinking  about  you  not  more'n  a  minute  ago.' 
(That  w^as  the  truth;  but  I  hadn't  thought  of  him 
in  a  month  until  the  children  said  he  Avas  coming. ) 
^Come  right  in.  Brother  Ricks,'  I  said,  ^and  let  the 
children  feed  your  horse.  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you !' 
'No,  sister,  I've  already  fed  my  horse;  and  I've  got 
a  lunch  with  me,  so  I'll  set  here  by  your  good  fire 
and  hear  you  talk  some.'  (Thinks  I,  if  talking's 
all  you  want,  I  can  do  enough  of  that  for  you. )  ^O, 
no.  Brother  Ricks,'  said  I,  ^you  must  not  eat  your 
lunch ;  that's  cold.  You  must  take  dinner  with  me ; 
you  haven't  been  here  in  such  a  long  time.'  Just 
then  the  children  opened  the  door  into  the  kitchen 
room  and  the  scent  of  roasting  potatoes  came  in. 


218  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

^Don't  I  smell  potatoes,  sister?'  he  asked.  'I  expect 
jou  do,  Brother  Ricks,  for  the  children  are  all  the 
time  roasting  them.'  (Those  potatoes  were  our 
dinner,  you  know.)  ^They  keep  the  house  always 
smelling  like  potatoes;  I  get  so  tired  of  it  I  don't 
know  what  to  do.'  ^Why,  sister,'  said  he,  4f  you 
were  as  fond  of  potatoes  as  I  am  you'd  like  to  smell 
them  all  the  time.'  The  children  heard  that  re- 
mark, and  before  I  had  time  to  think  one  of  them 
came  bringing  an  old  ash-pan  piling  full  of  them. 
^Carry  them  right  back,'  I  said,  ^haven't  you  got  any 
better  sense  than  to  bring  potatoes  to  a  preacher  in 
such  a  pan  as  that.  Carry  them  back  and  peel 
them  and  bring  them  on  a  plate.'  ^Brother  Ricks,' 
1  said,  ^I  rather  you'd  let  me  fix  dinner  for  you.' 
^No,  Sister  Shamlin,  these  potatoes  make  just  as 
good  a  dinner  as  I  want'  (If  he  had  known  it  he 
was  eating  my  peep-day  dinner. )  When  he  started 
off,  I  followed  him  out  to  his  buggy,  saying :  ^Broth- 
er Ricks,  I'm  so  sorry  you  wouldn't  let  me  fix  din- 
ner for  you.' 

"There  was  one  thing  Mr.  Shamlin  would  not  do ; 
buy  snuff  for  me.  I  thought  he  might  have  done 
it;  for  I  worked  hard  enough  for  his  first  wife's 
seven  children,  and  for  our  seven  as  well,  to  have 
ail  the  snuff  I  wanted.  But  he  wouldn't  give  me  a 
dip,  unless  I  paid  him  for  it;  though  he  kept  it  for 
sale  in  pound  bladders.  Sometimes  I'd  say,  ^Mr. 
Shamlin,  please  let  me  have  some  snuff.'  ^You  can 
have  it  for  the  money,'  he  would  answer.  He  made 
mighty  nice  white-hickory  axe  helves  for  which  he 
asked  fifty  cents.  One  day  a  neighbor  came  over 
and  asked  me  if  Mr.  Shamlin  had  any  of  those  nice 
white-hickory  helves,  and  said  he'd  like  to  see  them. 
After  looking  at  them  awhile  he  said  he  believed 
he'd  take  one,  and  paid  me  fifty  cents  for  it.  That 
night  after  supper  I  said:  ^Mr.  Shamlin,  I  wish 
you'd  let  me  and  Mary   (she  was  his  first  wife's 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  219 

daughter),  have  a  bladder  of  snuff.'  ^You  can  have 
it  for  the  money/  he  replied.  ^Here/  said  I,  ^is  the 
money ;  now  go  and  get  the  snuff  and  cut  the  blad- 
der in  two  halves,  one  for  me  and  one  for  your 
daughter  Mary.'  He  brought  it  out,  took  a  string 
and  measured  it,  so  as  to  get  the  middle,  and  finally 
cut  the  bladder,  handing  half  of  it  to  me  and  half 
to  Mary.  We  sat  there  and  dipped,  and  looked  at 
each  other  and  laughed.  ^What  are  you  laughing 
about?'  he  asked  in  a  very  surly  tone  of  voice.  ^We 
can't  help  laughing,'  I  said,  ^the  snuff  tastes  so 
good,  and  we  haven't  had  any  in  such  a  long  time.' 
Presently  he  asked  again,  'What  are  you  laughing 
at?'  Mary  and  I  got  close  to  the  door  before  I  an- 
swered: 'That  fifty  cents  I  paid  you  for  the  snuff 
I  got  for  an  axe  helve  I  sold  to-day.'  He  rose  like 
a  thunder-cloud,  but,  before  he  could  turn  around 
we  jumped  out  at  the  door  and  ran  down  toward 
th-?  spring,  staying  out  till  he'd  gone  to  bed.  I 
never  heard  a  thing  from  him  about  it  afterward. 

"No,  he  wouldn't  allow  me,  nor  one  of  the  chil- 
dren, to  go  about  his  watermelon  patch,  but  one  day 
when  he  was  gone  to  town  I  told  the  children  I  just 
must  have  some  watermelons,  but  they  said  daddy 
would  whip  any  one  who  went  into  his  patch.  'But 
how  will  he  know  I've  been  in  there?'  I  asked.  'He'll 
see  your  tracks,'  they  said.  I  went  and  put  on  his 
everyday  shoes,  took  a  bag  and  told  two  or  three 
of  the  children  to  follow  me,  but  not  to  leave  the 
path.  The  watermelons  in  that  patch  were  a  sight 
to  behold.  Every  one  that  was  anyways  near  grown 
he  had  marked  with  a  letter  'S,'  and  then  stuck  a 
switch  down  beside  it,  as  much  as  to  say,  'He'll  get 
a  whipping  who  pulls  this  melon !' 

"I  pulled  four  of  the  finest  I  saw,  and  carried 
them  out  to  the  path  where  the  children  were,  and 
they  put  them  in  bags  and  we  went  home;  and  such 
an  eating  of  watermelons  we  did  have.  The  chickens, 


220  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

ducks  and  geese  ate  the  seed  and  the  hogs  cleaned 
up  the  rinds,  so  there  were  no  signs  about  the  i^rem- 
ises  to  arouse  suspicions.  A  few  days  later  Mr. 
SJiamlin  said,  ^Mary.'  I  said.  'Sir!'  'Don't  you 
want  some  watermelons?'  he  asked. 

"  'Yes,  sir,'  I  said.  'Then  get  a  bag/  said  he,  'and 
follow  me.'  When  we  got  opposite  the  patch,  he 
said:  'Now,  stand  here  and  I'll  bring  the  melons 
out  here.'  I  saw  him  making  his  way  to  where  I 
pulled  a  fine  Georgia  melon.  He  stopped,  and  look- 
ing intently  to  where  the  missing  melon  grew,  he 
Siiid:  'Mary,  that  blamed  nigger  has  got  my  fine 
Georgia  melon,  and  I'll  kill  him  on  sight.'  'Do  you 
see  his  tracks?'  I  asked.  Moving  the  vines  care- 
fully, I  heard  him  say :  'No,  that's  my  track.  Shoes 
h&lf-soled  with  i)egs  and  run  down  at  the  heel. 
That's  my  track,  certain,  but  I  don't  remember 
about  pulling  that  melon.'  And,  so  he  found  four 
of  his  largest  melons  gone,  but  he  could  find  no 
tracks  in  the  patch  but  his  own.  He  said  finally: 
'I  can't  remember  pulling  them,  but  I  suppose  I 
m.ust  have  done  it,  the  last  load  I  carried  to  town, 
for  these  certainly  are  my  tracks — half-soled  with 
pegs  and  run  down  at  the  heel.'  Then  he  pulled 
three  or  four,  and,  taking  a  bag  of  them  on  his 
shoulder,  went  toward  the  house,  I  walking  behind 
tickled  half  to  death,  thinking  how  nicely  those  old 
shoes  had  done  their  work  in  deceiving  the  old  man. 
He  was  so  confident  that  he  pulled  those  melons,  he 
did  not  allude  to  them  any  more.  A  few  years  after 
that  he  was  telling  brother  Luke,  that's  our 
preacher,  what  a  good  wife  I  had  been  and  how 
honest  I  was ;  never  had  taken  the  wrapping  off  his 
little  finger  without  telling  him  about  it.  "That's 
so,  Brother  Luke,'  said  I,  'except  four  watermelons 
I  stole  one  time.'  'When  did  you  ever  steal  any 
watermelons?'  Mr.  Shamlin  asked.  'Don't  you  re- 
member five  or  six  years  ago,  when  you  missed  four 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  221 

very  fine  melons  and  you  thought  at  first  that  nig- 
ger Jim  got  them.'  ^Oh,  yes/  said  he,  ^but  after  I 
saw  the  tracks  I  knowed  he  didn't;  I  got  'em  my- 
self.' ^No,  you  didn't/  said  I.  'Them  were  my 
tracks/  said  he.  'They  were  your  tracks/  said  I, 
'but  my  feet  were  in  your  old  shoes  when  the  tracks 
were  made.'  If  Brother  Luke  hadn't  been  there  I 
do  believe  he  would  have  tried  to  whip  me.  But 
Brother  Luke  laughed  so  heartily  the  old  man 
struck  up  a  grin,  too,  but  he  wouldn't  walk  home 
^dth  me  from  church  that  evening. 

"I  expect  nothing  else  than  that  you,  or  somebody 
else,  will  write  out  my  life,  some  of  these  times," 
said  Mrs.  Shamlin,  one  day;  "if  you  do  write  it  and 
put  it  in  a  book,  I  want  you  to  have  these  pictures : 
The  old  man  and  I  going  through  town,  the  day  we 
were  married,  and  the  people  standing  on  the  streets 
and  sticking  their  heads  out  of  windows,  looking  at 
us.  Then  have  father,  Mr.  Shamlin  and  me  stand- 
ing in  the  cow-lot,  deciding  between  the  milk  cow 
and  the  steer.  Then  have  the  steers  roped,  yoked 
and  their  tails  tied  together  standing  by  the  barn. 
Then  have  a  life-size  picture  of  Mr.  Shamlin  with 
his  arm  around  my  waist  calling  me  'honey'  for  the 
last  time.  Then  you  might  have  two  pictures,  one 
of  me,  after  he  had  called  me  a  'huzzy,'  trying  to 
cliop  the  bow  in  two,  while  Mr.  Shamlin  was  hold- 
ing the  steer;  the  other  of  me  with  a  knife  in  my 
h^.nd  cutting  the  steers'  tails  apart.  Be  sure  to 
have  a  picture  of  Brother  Kicks  sitting  by  my  fire 
eating  roasted  potatoes  and  me  a-standing  there 
trying  to  persuade  him  to  let  me  fix  dinner  for  him. 
And,  if  you  have  room  for  two  more  pictures,  I 
v.'ould  like  for  you  to  have  one  of  the  old  man  cut- 
ting the  bladder  of  snuff  in  two,  and  one  showing 
how  he  looked  when  I  told  him  I'd  sold  one  of  his 
axe  helves  to  get  the  money  to  buy  snuff  with.  And 
the  last  picture  should  be  the  old  man  with  a  bag 


222  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

of:  watermelons  on  his  shoulder  and  me  walking 
behind.  Don't  put  in  any  picture  of  me  and  the 
old  man  and  Brother  Luke  at  the  church,  for  I 
don't  Avant  my  grandchildren  to  see  how  mad  he 
looked  that  day,  right  after  preaching,  too." 

If  Mrs.  Shamlin  sees  this  sketchy  she  may  be  dis- 
appointed at  not  seeing  all  the  pictures,  but  I  hope 
the  one  given  will  recall  the  happy  moments  when 
she  heard  herself  called  ^'honey"  for  the  last  time, 
and,  as  she  indulges  in  the  memories  of  that  occa- 
sion she  will  forgive  me  fop  failing  to  have  the 
others  put  in. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Sunday  Freight  Trains — Drinking  Church  Mem- 
ber— Toting  Pistols — Lmvyers — Tom  Rhodes 
— Other  Incidents. 

I  noticed  a  few  weeks  ago  that  the  grand  jury  of 
Franklin  county  had  indicted  the  Seaboard  Air 
Line  Railway  for  running  freight  trains  on  Sunday, 
and  I  suppose  they  did  so  in  pursuance  of  the 
charge  of  the  presiding  judge.  If  the  law  is 
against  the  running  of  freight  trains,  the  grand 
juiy  did  right,  of  course,  and  if  the  law  is  not 
against  it,  it  ought  to  be,  for,  railroads  have  no 
more  right  to  do  business  on  Sunday  than  has  the 
man  who  half-soles  shoes,  to  support  himself  and 
family.  The  law  would  soon  pick  him  up,  "awl  and 
end,"  and  run  him  into  the  court,  and  make  him 
answer  to  the  charge  of  violating  God's  holy  com- 
mandment, "Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy."     But  what  can  you  do  with  a  railroad? 

A  corporation  has  no  soul,  and  is  not,  therefore, 
supposed  to  be  accountable.     It  has  no  conscience. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  223 

iieitlier  sense  of  shame;  it  fears  not  God,  neither 
regards  man ;  but  does  as  it  pleases,  when  it  pleases, 
and  as  much  as  it  pleases;  having  no  regard  for 
tired  human  nature  that  ought  to  have  a  day  of  rest 
and  relaxation.  Hard-worked  operatives  are  not 
responsible  for  the  labor  they  are  required  to  do  on 
the  Sabbath.  They  are  simply  trying  to  get  in 
reach  of  the  next  hoe-cake,  and  they  would  not  be 
compelled  to  such  a  life,  but  for  the  fact  that  aggre- 
gated caj)ital  and  monopolistic  combinations  have 
so  narrowed  the  field  of  labor  as  to  make  it  a  neces- 
sity for  men  to  sell  their  manhood  and  almost  re- 
nounce their  religion  in  order  to  feed  themselves 
and  families.  Freight  trains  laden  with  "perish- 
able" matter,  as  for  example,  fruits  and  vegetables, 
and  also  Avith  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  chickens  and 
other  kinds  of  poultry  are  allowed  to  run  on  the 
Sabbath  day;  and  there  is  reason  in  that;  but,  w^hen 
we  see  dozens  of  trains  every  Sunday,  each  with 
from  40  to  50  cars,  going  north,  south,  east  and 
west,  we  wonder  at  the  amount  of  "perishable"  mat- 
ter the  railroads  do  manage  to  pick  up ;  where  they 
find  it  and  where  they  are  carrying  it.  They  say 
(though  I  do  not  vouch  for  all  "they  say"),  that  a 
railroad  don't  want  but  one  cabbage  as  an  excuse 
for  running  a  train  of  50  cars  on  Sunday,  loaded 
with  lumber,  coal,  oil,  guano,  merchandise  or  any 
other  kind  of  freight.  One  car  loaded  with  perish- 
able matter  and  49  with  other  things,  looks  like 
whipping  the  old  bo}^  around  the  stump. 

I  am  reminded  of  the  church  member  who,  having 
been  arraigned  for  drunkenness,  and  having  made 
his  confession  and  received  forgiveness,  most  sol- 
emnly and  unreservedly  promised  the  church  and 
pastor  that  he  would  drink  no  more,  except  when 
he  sheared  sheep.  Of  course  the  church  and  pas- 
tor agreed  to  that,  supposing  that  sheep  shearing 
would  occur  not  oftener  than  once,  or,   at  most, 


224  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

twice  a  year.  But  it  was  soon  found  that  the  brother 
w^as  as  drunk  as  usual,  though  he  declared  he  had 
not  drank  a  drop  since  he  sheared  sheep.  The 
brethren  thought  it  strange  that  the  old  drunk 
should  last  so  long,  and  that  his  breath  still  had  the 
odor  of  whiskey  on  it.  Every  day  he  was  drunk, 
but  every  day  declared  he  had  not  tasted  a  drop 
since  sheep-shearing.  They  decided  to  put  a  spy 
0/1  him,  and  very  soon  discovered  that  the  drinking 
brother  had  a  sheep  tied  up  in  the  barn,  and  near  by 
was  a  jug  of  whiskey;  and,  a  half  dozen  times  a  day, 
he'd  go  to  the  barn,  clip  off  a  lock  of  wool,  and  take 
two  or  three  stiff  drinks;  so,  it  turned  out  he  was 
shearing  sheep  a  half  dozen  times  a  day,  and  telling 
the  truth,  literally,  in  saying  he  had  drank  nothing 
since  sheep  shearing.  I  dare  say,  if  the  matter  were 
looked  into,  those  ^'perishable  property''  trains 
would  turn  out,  in  many  cases,  to  be  a  shearing  of 
the  same  old  sheep,  or  words  to  that  effect. 

A  man  asked  me  the  other  day,  how  it  is  that  law- 
makers and  lawyers,  who,  in  their  speeches,  make 
it  out  such  a  flagrant  violation  of  law  and  such  a 
cowardly  thing  for  a  poor  fellow,  who  hasn't  any 
better  sense  than  to  tote  pistols,  can  strut  around 
with  their  own  hip-pockets  loaded  with  guns?  When 
I  answered  I  didn't  know  that  they  did,  he  said: 
''You'd  better  not  'sass'  one  of  them  if  you  don't 
want  to  hear  something  pop."  I  gave  him  my  word 
I  wouldn't — and  I  won't.  I  am  getting  along  in 
years,  and  I've  never  thought  I  needed  a  pistol;  in 
fact,  I'm  afraid  of  the  things.  There's  some  sense 
in  having  a  double-barreled  shotgun  handy,  ready 
for  business  when  robbers  or  burglars  disturb  your 
slumbers ;  but,  Avhen  a  fellow  has  his  eyes  open  and 
tlie  sun  is  shining,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  keep  out 
of  scrapes,  on  his  good  looks  and  good  behaviour. 

What  a  horrible  tiling  is  murder!  To  take  the 
life  of  a  human  being — that  which  can  not  be  re- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  225 

Stored — and  plunge  a  whole  community  into  grief. 
Poor  Cain !  How  miserable  he  was  always,  after 
he,  in  a  fit  of  passion,  killed  his  brother !  The  blood 
of  the  murdered  man  crieth  unto  God  from  the 
ground,  and  the  conscience,  that  is  not  dead,  is 
CTer  being  goaded  by  remorse.  I  wish  all  the  pis- 
tols were  buried  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  it  was  a 
hanging  matter  to  make  another.  If  big  men  tote 
them,  little  men,  boys  and  fools  will  tote  them,  too ; 
and,  as  in  the  case  of  selling  liquor,  the  dealer  is 
just  as  apt,  and  quite  as  ready  (for  the  money),  to 
sc'll  to  the  one  as  to  the  other.  And  since  Cauca- 
sia'ns  tote  them,  Africans  must  tote  them,  also.  And 
s^)  it  comes  to  pass,  in  times  of  peace,  we  are  armed 
and  equipped  for  war.  A  pistol  like  a  mortgage  is 
a  reflection  and  a  stigma.  In  my  pocket  a  pistol  is 
a  reflection  upon  my  courage,  and  a  stigma  upon 
my  morals ;  publishing  to  the  world  that  I  am  afraid 
of  men,  and,  in  heart  and  in  purpose,  a  murderer, 
if  provoked  or  attacked;  and  that  I  am  still  abiding 
in  that  old  faith — "an  eve  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for 
a  tooth.'' 

Speaking  of  lawyers,  I  have  often  w  ondered  if  the 
lawyer,  who  knows  his  client  is  a  rascal  and  his  case 
immoral,  as  well  as  a  violation  of  law,  really  sym- 
pathizes with  his  client  and  rejoices,  if,  perchance, 
the  verdict  is  in  his  favor ;  when  the  rascal  escapes 
and  the  innocent  has  to  suffer?  Lawyers  have  to 
undertake  some  very  bad  cases,  and  it  seems  but 
reasonable  to  suppose  they  can  but  loathe  the  situ- 
ation, and  feel  a  hearty  contempt  for  the  beings 
with  whom  they  have  to  be  even  professionally  asso- 
ciated. 

While  that  may  be  true  as  a  general  rule,  I  have 
seen,  or,  at  least,  known  of  instances  in  which  law- 
y(irs,  in  order  to  gain  their  cases  and  secure  their 
fees,  assailed  the  character  of  people  vrhom  they 

15 


226  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

knew  were  upright  and  innocent;  even  subjecting 
timid  and  shrinking  females  to  most  cruel  and  em- 
barrassing cross-examinations,  for  no  other  reason 
than  to  break  the  force  of  an  honest,  truthful  state- 
ment; to  the  end  that  the  wrong  might  prevail  in- 
stead of  the  right.  A  conscientious,  high-minded 
lawyer  will  not  descend  to  such  methods.  He  will 
not  brow-beat,  nor  try  to  intimidate  a  witness;  and 
in  the  long  run,  his  gentlemanly  deportment  and 
just  treatment  of  witnesses  will  gain  for  him  a  far 
better  standing  as  a  man  and  a  lawyer. 

At  this  point  I  am  reminded  of  an  anecdote  I 
have  either  heard  or  read,  some  time  in  my  life, 
which  illustrates  what  I  am  writing,  concerning  the 
proper  treatment  of  witnesses.  The  story  was  as 
follows : 

A  lawyer  had  a  very  bad  case,  but  he  thought  he 
might  probably  clear  his  client,  if  he  could  break 
down  the  testimony  of  a  country  boy  who  had  told, 
in  a  straight-forward  way,  a  very  damaging  story, 
in  the  way  of  evidence,  against  his  client. 

With  a  great  deal  of  dignity  and  a  self-righteous 
air  that  was  intended  to  be  appalling,  even  to  the 
court,  the  lawyer  arose  and  said :  ''May  it  please 
your  Honor,  I  have  my  doubts  as  to  whether  that 
country  urchin,  who  has  been  allowed  to  testify  in 
this  case,  understands  the  nattire  of  an  oath,  and 
especiall}^  am  I  in  doubt  as  to  his  mental  capacity 
to  be  a  witness  in  a  case  of  so  much  importance ;  I 
therefore  pray  your  Honor  to  allow  me  to  ask  him 
a  few  questions. '^ 

"Certainly,''  said  the  Judge. 

Turning  to  the  boy  and  bestoAving  on  him  a  con- 
temptuous, withering  scowl,  he  asked :  "Boy,  who 
made  you?'' 

"Moses,  I  speck,"  answered  the  boy. 

"Stand  aside,"  said  the  lawyer  in  a  tone  of  tri- 
umph, and  turning  to  the  Judge  and  also  to  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  227 

jury,  he  said :  ^'May  it  please  your  Honor,  and  gen- 
tlemen of  the  jury,  I  have  shown  you,  by  asking 
only  one  question,  that  that  boy  is  not  a  competent 
witness — don't  even  know  who  made  him.''  Just 
then  the  voice  of  the  boy  piped  out . 

"Mister  Jedge,  can  I  ask  that  lawyer  a  question?" 

"Certainly,"  said  the  Judge. 

"Well,  then,"  said  the  boy,  "who  made  you,  Mr. 
Lawyer?" 

The  lawyer,  affecting  a  great  deal  of  pity,  mixed 
with  sarcasm,  replied : 

"As  Moses  made  you,  I  guess  Aaron  must  have 
made  me." 

"I  hearn  as  how  old  Aaron  made  a  calf  once,  but 
who'd  a  thought  the  derned  fool  would  ever  a  found 
his  way  into  a  court-house?"  the  boy  replied. 

The  Judge  decided  the  boy  was  a  competent  wit- 
ness, and,  on  his  evidence  the  jury  gave  a  verdict 
against  the  lawyer's  client. 

I  have  great  admiration  for  the  legal  profession, 
and  without  an  exception,  I  think  highly  of  all  the 
lawyers  that  I  know ;  and  will  add,  considering  the 
rascalities  with  which  lawyers  have  to  contend, 
and  the  bad  atmosphere,  morally,  they  are  com- 
pelled to  breathe,  and  the  bad  company  they  are 
obliged  to  keep,  much  of  the  time,  I  guess  they  do, 
as  Tom  Khodes  used  to  say  of  himself,  "about  as 
well  as  mout  be  expected,  considerin'." 

Who  was  Tom  Rhodes?  He  was  a  man  of  my 
boyhood  days,  who  had  a  gold  mine ;  or  thought  he 
hud,  which  was  all  the  same  to  him,  so  far  as  his 
feelings  were  concerned.  He  imagined  he  was  rich, 
and  like  other  rich  men,  he  gloried  in  his  riches, 
and  therefore  talked  of  nothing  but  his  gold  mine. 
He  pretended  to  have  a  little  farm^  but  he  paid  so 
little  attention  to  it,  it  yielded  him  next  to  nothing; 
but,  all  the  same,  he  kept  in  good  spirits,  and  looked 
forward  to  the  time  when  he  would  dwell  in  a  pal- 


228  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

ace,  and  Ms  daughter,  Narcissa,  would  ride  in  a 
cciacli  and  four,  dress  in  silks  and  satins,  and  have 
more  beaux  than  (as  he  expressed  it)  "any  of  the 
gals  in  the  neighborhood — not  exceptin'  Dr.  Jones's 
darters."  He  spent  most  of  his  time  digging  holes 
in  his  field,  and  breaking  rocks,  "sarchin'  for  speci- 
ments.''  And  when  he  came  out  to  old  Pleasant 
Springs  or  the  Red  Meeting  House,  on  Sunday,  to 
preaching,  he  generally  had  his  coat  pockets  so  full 
of  rocks  that,  as  he  walked,  his  half-bent  posture 
v/ould  remind  you  of  a  peddler  with  a  pack  on  his 
back.  The  men,  seated  on  logs  near  the  church, 
seeing  him  coming,  would  begin  to  frame  questions 
to  ask  him  about  his  mine,  and  to  make  up  stories 
to  tell  him,  pretending  like  they  had  heard  this  or 
that  man,  who  was  skilled  in  mining,  descanting 
upon  the  immense  value  of  his  mine.  Soon  he'd 
begin  to  unload  his  pockets,  and  from  then  until 
the  preacher  went  in  and  began  to  sing  "Children  of 
the  Heavenly  King,''  Tom  would  be  explaining 
where  he  found  this,  that  and  the  other  "speciment," 
and  relating  what  John  Cullers  and  Captain  Ste- 
vens (he  meant  McCullers  and  Stephenson),  and 
others  had  said  about  the  value  of  each  rock,  and 
the  probable  wealth  of  his  mine ;  provided  his  "spec- 
iments"  turned  out  to  be  gold.  When  the  others 
started  into  the  church  Tom  would  begin  to  reload 
his  coat-tail  pockets,  and  when  he  went  in,  he  put 
on  the  air  of  a  millionaire,  and  didn't  like  it  at  all 
if  the  preacher  had  too  much  to  say  about  rich  men, 
"they  that  have  riches,"  etc.  Thought  that  was  a 
personal  hit  at  him.  He  dug  so  many  holes  in  the 
woods,  as  well  as  in  his  field,  that  people's  hogs  and 
cattle  were  constantly  falling  into  them;  and,  so, 
his  mining  operations  finally  became  a  nuisance  to 
the  community.  About  which  time,  the  gentleman 
from  whom  he  purchased  the  land,  seeing  that  he 
would  never  pay  for  it,  required  him  to  move  off, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  229 

which  he  did;  but  always  felt  and  said  that  he  had 
been  cheated  out  of  his  fortune.  Tom  was  about 
a  fourth  or  fifth  cousin  of  mine,  but,  as  his  gold 
mine  was  a  failure,  I  never  claimed  kin  with  him 
v.'3ry  much.  I  don't  know  how  it  would  have  been, 
if  his  isin-giass  had  been  gold  and  he  had  become 
a  millionaire.  I  might  have  treated  him  as  a  dou- 
ble first-cousin,  and  paid  court  to  ^'the  beautiful 
and  accomplished  Miss  Narcissa."  No,  I  can't  tell 
how  it  would  have  been,  or  what  would  have  hap- 
pened if  Tom  Rhodes'  gold  "speciments"  had  been 
STire  enough  gold,  and  Narcissa  had  become  the 
petted  daughter  of  a  millionaire.  I  am  sure  of  one 
thing,  she  would  have  had  plenty  of  beaux;  for,  as 
molasses  draws  flies,  so  will  money  draw  boys. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

honoring  and  the  Various  Kinds  of  Snores — ^ome 
People  WJio  Do  Not  Like  Snoring — Nervous 
People  Who  Are  Afraid  of  Snoring — Snoring 
Convention  Suggested. 

Most  people  snore  in  their  sleep — some  more, 
some  less — but  they  are  not  conscious  of  it.  Some 
people  do  not  mind  sleeping  in  a  room  with  others, 
as  snoring  does  not  disturb  them,  while  others 
dread  snorers  as  they  do  mosquitoes  or  those  other 
pests  which  sometimes  disturb  sleepers.  Snoring 
i?,  by  no  means,  a  very  popular  accomplishment, 
for  one  to  possess;  for,  though  he  may  snore  ever 
so  carefully,  he  will,  sometimes,  either  degenerate 
into  a  monotonous  kind  of  "gourd  sawing,"  or  rise 
to  those  undignified  snortings  and  brayings  which, 
in  the  dark,  scare  children  and  weak-minded  people 
almost  into  fits. 


230  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

I  can  not  speak,  from  my  own  knowledge,  for  I 
do  not  know  whether  I  am  a  snorer,  and,  if  so,  to 
what  class  of  snorers  I  belong.  I  have  been  in- 
formed, by  gentlemen  whose  veracity  I  Avould  not 
like  to  question,  that  I  do  breathe  a  little  hard 
sometimes;  but,  no  man  has  ever  told  me  that  my 
hard  breathing  could  be  heard  across  the  square,  on 
a  stormy  night;  therefore,  I  infer  I  am  not  much 
of  a  snorer;  though  I  always  like  to  be  first-class  in 
anything  I  undertake. 

There  are  various  kinds  of  snoring  and  as  many 
kinds  of  snorers.  I  need  not  take  the  reader's  time 
to  describe  all  the  different  kinds  of  snores,  as  I 
take  it  for  granted  other  people  are  as  well  posted 
as  I  am ;  but,  I  do  want  to  mention  a  few  of  them — 
if,  for  no  other  reason,  to  let  the  reader  under- 
stand that  I  have  been  an  appreciative  hearer  of 
that  midnight  music  which,  some  sensitive  people, 
pretend  they  do  not  admire. 

In  the  first  place,  there's  what  may  be  termed  the 
"smoking  snore."  That's  the  simplest  form  of  snor- 
ing, and  the  easiest  executed;  as  a  man  has  simply 
to  lie  on  his  back  and  puff,  as  if  he  were  smoking 
a  pipe.  It  doesn't  require  any  exertion,  whatever, 
and,  consequently,  it  doesn't  tire  the  snorer.  He 
can  keep  up  his  "pooh,"  from  the  moment  he  begins 
to  puff  until  the  sun  rises,  the  next  morning.  And 
what  makes  it  so  aggravating,  if  you  punch  the  fel- 
low and  make  him  promise  to  stop,  he'll  begin  again 
right  where  he  left  off.  And  should  you  shake  him 
again,  and  beg  him  to  ctop  his  puffing,  he  will  say, 
"All  right — p-o-o-o-hl"  and  go  right  ahead  as  if 
there  had  been  no  interruption.  I  have  a  very  dear 
friend  in  Smithfield  who  graduated  witli  distinction 
as  a  "smoking  snorer,"  and,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  enquire  into  the  matter,  he  stands  at,  or 
about,  the  head  of  that  class.  It  is  worth  the  loss 
of  a  night's  sleep  to  be  permitted  to  room  with  him 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  231 

and  satisfy  one's  self  as  to  his  proficiency  in  the 
art  of  p-o-oh-ing. 

The  "goose  hissing  snore''  is  somewhat  like  the 
smoking  snore;  but  it  differs  from  it  in  two  partic- 
uk:rs.  In  the  first  place  the  montli  is  partly  open 
and  the  snorer  "s-s-s-h-e-s"  instead  of  "p-o-o-h-s"; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  the  hissing  gets  louder  and 
louder  until  it  becomes  a  sort  of  whistle,  which  gen- 
ej  ally  scares  the  snorer  and  wakes  him  up,  when  he 
v/ill  be  pretty  apt  to  remark :  "I  believe  I  w^as  snor- 
ing." And  then  he  will  most  likely  turn  over  and 
sleep  quietly  the  remainder  of  the  night. 

The  next  snore,  in  order,  is  the  "frog  snore,"  or 
rather  a  cross  between  the  noise  made  by  filing  a 
hand-saw  and  the  croaking  of  a  meadow  frog.  Such 
a  snore  is  enough  to  make  the  flesh  crawl  on  a  per- 
son who  is  nothing  but  skin  and  bones,  and  make 
him  forget  all  the  other  troubles  and  disagreeable 
tilings  in  this  world.  Beware  of  a  person  who 
snores  that  kind  of  a  snore. 

The  next  snore  is  what  might  be  called  "the 
snort."  The  noise  is  made  through  the  nose,  and 
sounds  as  savage  and  quite  as  discordant  as  the  roar 
of  a  young  lion  mixed  with  the  braying  of  an  ass. 
That  snore  is  known  as  "the  baby-waker,"  and  is 
therefore  a  terror  to  the  household ;  but  the  one  good 
feature  about  it  is,  it  soon  exhauts  itself,  or  it 
Avould  exhaust  the  snorer. 

Lastly,  though  there  are  other  kinds,  I  mention 
the  "gourd-sawing  snorers."  There  are  two  distinct 
kinds  of  these;  the  hand-sawyers  and  the  cross-cut 
sawyers.  The  hand-saw  fellows  are  those  who  bloAv 
out,  simply — the  cross-cut  fellows  are  those  who 
snore  "a-gwine  and  a-comin'."  Of  all  snorers  this 
last  mentioned  class,  by  all  odds,  stands  highest, 
and  is  entitled  to  a  premium  as  a  sleep  disturber; 
for  no  man  with  a  bad  conscience  can  sleep  while 
the  cross-cut  snorer  runs  his  machine. 

I  have  heard  much  better  music  than  the  average 


232  AYHITAKEIl'S    REMINISCENCES^ 

snorer  can  make;  but,  I  never  heard  any  snoring 
that  could  keep  me  awake.  If  the  snorer  can 
stand  it,  I  know  I  can;  so,  I  generally  let  him  run 
Ms  machine  as  he  pleases,  if  it  be  all  night. 

Some  folks  can't  stand  snoring — at  least  they 
make  out  they  can't.  It  has  been  my  misfortune  to 
be  thrown  with  some  of  this  unfortunate  class  sev- 
eral times,  and  I  speak  the  truth  Avhen  I  say  they 
are  to  be  pitied.  It  is  so  sad  to  see  a  man  who 
thinks  he's  a  hero,  a  patriot,  or  a  saint,  scared  half 
to  death;  rolling  and  tumbling  and  groaning  as  if 
he  had  the  head-ache,  the  ear-ache,  the  tooth  ache, 
thi;  back-ache,  and  all  the  other  aches,  just  because 
a  bed-fellow,  in  the  exercise  of  a  God-given  right, 
is  blowing  his  horn  of  praise  and  thanksgiving, 
wliile  he  is  sleeping.  I  would  not  like  to  sleep  Avitli 
a  dead  man;  so,  I  like  for  my  bed-fellow  to  let  me 
know  he's  alive.     A  snorer  does  that. 

I  am  ashamed  to  tell  some  things  I  know  about 
these  scarey  fellows.  I  think  too  much  of  them 
to  let  my  readers  know  what  cowards  they  are;  or 
at  least  know  how  little  nerve  they  have.  If  you 
w.mt  to  make  one  of  these  nerveless  fellows  miser- 
able, just  start  him  off  to  a  room  T\'ith  a  good,  jolly 
fellow,  who  has  too  much  of  life  in  him  to  lie  like  a 
log  all  night,  and  you'll  do  it.  In  a  voice  tliat  is 
pitiful  in  the  extreme,  betokening  an  anxiety,  or  an 
alarm  that  is  truly  heart-rending,  he  Avill  ask: 
"Brother,  do  you  snore?"  If  you  say  you  do,  the 
poor  fellow  begins  to  tremble  at  heart,  at  once,  and 
to  see  hobgobblins,  and  to  hear,  in  his  imagination, 
unearthly  sounds.  In  other  words,  he's  miserable, 
from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet, 
at  the  idea  of  his  being  kept  awake  all  night  in  the 
dark,  tliinking  of  his  sins. 

One  thing  I  have  learned  from  experience  is,  that 
those  fellows  who  can't  stand  snoring  are  generally 
th(  worst  snorers,  and  do  the  most  outlandish  kind 
of  snoring. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  233 

One  uight  a  brother  preacher  and  I  were  i^ut  in 
tJie  same  room — yes,  had  to  sleep  in  the  same  bed. 
He  began  to  sigh  and  groan  as  soon  as  we  entered 
the  room,  and  to  say,  in  a  sort  of  troubled  way,  he 
was  afraid  he  would  not  be  able  to  sleep  a  wink. 
Of  course  I  thought  there  must  be  some  great  trou- 
ble on  his  mind — that  he  and  his  wife  might  have 
had  a  misunderstanding;  or,  that  he  had  lost  his 
pocket-book;  or,  that  some  neighbor,  or  somebody, 
had  been  sa^^ing  unkind  things  of  him  or  his  family ; 
but,  I  felt  a  delicacy  about  prying  into  his  trouble, 
so  I  said  nothing. 

Presently  he  groaned  again,  and  sighed  a  sigh 
that  almost  brought  the  tears  to  my  eyes,  so  I  was 
bound  to  say  something.  In  reply  to  my  remark 
he  asked:  ^'Brother,  do  you  snore?''  I  told  him  I 
had  never  sat  up  with  myself  all  night  to  find  out , 
but,  I  had  heard  people  Avhose  words  I  had  no  right 
to  doubt,  say  that  I  did.  He  groaned  heavily  and 
going  to  his  valise,  took  out  a  bottle  that  contained 
a  sedative  of  some  sort,  and  took  a  big  dose,  and 
sighed  a  sigh  that  made  me  feel  very  miserable  in- 
deed, as  I  knew  that  I  was  the  cause  of  his  extreme 
trouble.  He  disrobed  himself  and  put  on  his  gown, 
and  took  another  dose  of  his  sedative,  remarking,  he 
believed  he  would  keep  a  fire  burning  all  night,  as 
he  just  knew  he  couldn't  sleep  a  wink.  Then  he 
fell  on  his  knees  to  say  his  prayers,  and  the  groans 
and  the  seeming  agony  of  that  moment  brought  the 
mourner's  bench  to  my  mind. 

While  he  was  saying  his  prayers,  groans  and 
sighs  punctuated  every  petition,  all  of  which  time 
I  was  feeling  that  I  was  the  guilty  wretch  who  was 
giving  him  all  the  trouble,  and  was  wishing,  with 
all  my  heart,  that  I  Avas  at  home,  or  in  some  hay 
loft — or  anywhere,  aAvay  from  that  room.  He  rose 
from  his  knees,  groaning  heavily,  and  remarked  for 
the  third  time,  '^I  shall  not  sleep  a  wink  to-night," 


234  WHITAKEPv'S   REMINISCENCES, 

whereupon  lie  took  sedative  number  three — and 
crawled  upon  the  bed.  I  lay  on  the  other  side,  with 
my  handkerchief  over  my  mouth  and  nose  to  keep 
even  my  breathing  from  being  heard.  In  about  an 
hour  my  restless  pardner  arose  and  took  sedative 
number  four,  and  groaned  some  more,  but  I  said 
nothing.  I  suppose  it  was  somewhere  near  two 
a.  m.  when  he  began  to  snore.  When  he  snorted 
the  first  time,  I  said:  ^'Thank  God  for  that!''  I 
had  been  lying  there  three  or  four  hours,  pinching 
myself,  lest  I  might  fall  asleep  and  breathe  a  little 
loud,  and,  with  my  handkerchief  over  my  mouth 
and  nose,  so  that  I  might  not  disturb  the  poor  fel- 
low. But  now  he  was  snoring,  not  caring  how 
much  he  might  disturb  me.  Then  I  fell  asleep,  and 
the  sun  was  away  up  before  either  of  us  woke,  in 
the  morning.  The  first  thing  my  companion  said 
was:  "I  don't  think  you  snored  any  last  night." 
"But  you  did,"  I  replied,  "and  I  certainly  enjoyed 
it ;  for  as  soon  as  I  found  out  that  you  were  asleep 
I  turned  about  and  went  to  sleep  also." 

I  am  heartily  sorry  for  all  such  scarey  folks.  They 
ought  never  to  go  from  home,  for  they  not  only  make 
themselves  miserable,  but  put  house-keepers  to  trou- 
ble. I  told  one  of  these  nervous  preachers,  who 
can't  stand  snoring,  that  he  ought  to  take  his  wife 
along  with  him  so  that  he  would  be  sure  to  have  a 
room  with  no  other  man  in  it.  "Why,  brother," 
said  he,  "my  wife  has  to  sit  up  every  night  until  I 
have  gone  to  sleep;  I  am  so  nervous  I  can't  even 
bear  to  hear  her  breathe." 

"I  would  not  blame  her  to  leave  you,"  I  said,  and 
I  wouldn't. 

At  a  camp-meeting  some  years  ago,  a  very  ner- 
vous preacher  and  I  occupied  a  bed  together.  A 
doctor  of  divinity  and  one  of  North  Carolina's  most 
distinguished  politicians,  who  was  quite  as  great  a 
snorter  as  the  doctor,  occupied  another;  and  two 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  235 

younger  preachers  occupied  a  third  bed.  I  soon 
fell  asleep,  and,  with  an  elbow,  that  felt  to  me  as 
sharp  and  as  hard  as  a  horn,  my  man  hunched  me, 
saying,  ^^Whi taker,  turn  over !" 

I  turned,  of  course,  for  I  always  like  to  be  accom- 
modating. But,  it  seemed  to  me  only  a  moment, 
before  he  hunched  me  again,  saying,  "Turn  over!'' 
I  turned,  for,  when  I  like  a  man  I'll  do  almost  any- 
thing to  oblige  him.  But  he  hunched  again  and 
asked  me  to  turn  over  the  third  time,  saying  as  he 
did  so:  "You  breathe  just  like  you  are  about  to 
snore.''  That  remark  woke  me  up,  just  in  time  to 
hear  the  doctor  and  his  bed-fellow  open  their  bat- 
teries. They  skirmished  around  a  minute  or  so, 
with  a  few  snorts,  but  soon  unlimbered  their  big 
guns  and  went  at  it  in  siege  fashion.  There  was  no 
shamming  about  it;  the  engagement  was  on.  My 
man  didn't  ask  me  to  turn  over  any  more;  but,  be- 
fore I  went  to  sleep,  I  think  he  turned  a  hundred 
times,  and  in  the  morning  he  announced  that  he  had 
spent  a  sleepless  night.  I  never  slept  better.  I  re- 
marked to  him  the  next  morning  that  any  man  who 
would  lie  awake  all  night  to  listen  to  that  snoring 
was  fonder  of  music  than  I  was.  He  said  it  was 
simply  cruel  to  serve  a  man  that  way. 

I  had  to  sleep  with  a  nervous  preacher  not  long 
ago — one  that  hates  snoring,  but  snores  all  the 
same.  I  muzzled  myself  and  behaved  all  right 
until  he  got  to  sleep,  and,  although  he  snored  "a- 
gAvine  and  a-comin',"  I  made  no  complaint;  for  in 
this  democratic  land  of  ours,  I  hold  that  every  man 
has  a  perfect  right  to  blow  his  own  horn,  according 
to  his  own  notion,  over  on  his  own  side  of  the  bed. 

Understand  me,  I  am  no  apologist  for,  much  less 
an  advocate  of  snoring,  and  if  I  could  keep  awake, 
all  the  time  I  am  asleep,  I  wouldn't  even  breathe 
hard,  lest  I  might  disturb  some  fellow  who  is  court- 
ing sleep  that  he  may  forget  his  sins.     In  fact,  I 


236  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

don't  admire  snoring  any  more  than  I  do  the  bray- 
ing of  a  donkey;  but,  inasmuch  as  we've  got  the 
thing  among  us,  and  everybody  is  more  or  less 
tainted,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  adapt  ourselves 
to  the  situation,  and  make  the  best  of  it  we  can. 

My  presiding  elder  is  all  right.  When  he  says 
his  prayers  and  takes  his  side  of  the  bed,  he  asks  no 
questions  about  snoring,  but  proceeds  at  once  to 
business,  and  sleeps  as  only  one  can  who  is  at  peace 
with  all  the  world,  and  the  rest  of  mankind,  as  Gen- 
eral Taylor  said.  Does  he  snore?  Of  course  he 
does,  sometimes,  and  he  has  a  right  to  snore;  and 
what  makes  him  a  truly  consistent  man  and  Chris- 
tian is,  he  don't  bother  the  other  snoring  man; 
neither  does  he  try  to  pose  as  a  martyr,  at  the 
breakfast  table  next  morning,  telling  how  badly  he 
feels,  because  he  could  not  sleep  on  account  of  the 
brother's  snoring.  No,  he  don't  descend  to  that 
kind  of  tactics  to  make  himself,  by  implication,  so 
saintly  as  to  be  above  snoring.  He  blows  his  own 
horn  and,  acting  upon  the  golden  rule,  accords  to 
others  the  same  right.  He  says  that  I  snore,  and  I 
expect  he  tells  the  truth.  I  know  he  snores;  but  it 
doesn't  disturb  me,  for  two  reasons;  I  just  know 
he's  having  a  good  time;  and  again,  I'm  fond  of 
hearing  him  preach;  and,  as  he  does  not  try  to 
change  the  sound  of  his  snore,  I  can  lie  there  and 
imagine  he's  preaching  one  of  his  fine  sermons. 
And,  as  preaching  has  the  tendency  of  making  one 
drowsy,  I  soon  fall  asleep,  and  that's  the  last  of  it, 
until  the  next  morning;  and  all  is  well. 

Some  folks  become  so  used  to  snoring  they  can't 
sleep  without  a  snorer  close  by.  The  old  lady  who 
went  to  town  to  visit  her  married  daughter,  and 
left  the  old  man  behind,  could  not  sleep  at  all,  so 
tradition  says,  until  her  daughter  got  the  coffee 
mill  and  set  to  grinding.  That  sounded  so  much 
like  the  old  man's  snore  she  soon  fell  asleep  as 
happy  as  a  child. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  237 

In  conclusion,  it  would  be  well  for  me  to  say  to 
those  gentlemen  for  whom  separate  rooms  have  to 
be  prepared,  that  they  deceive  nobody.  It  is  not 
because  they  are  so  very  nervous,  but  because  they 
are  so  very  selfish,  and  don't  like  to  be  bothered 
A\  ith  room-mates.  I  wonder  if  they  expect  the  Lord 
to  fix  up  little  private  ai^artments  in  heaven  Avhere 
the  shouting  can't  be  heard  by  them?  A  fellow 
who  can't  stand  snoring  would  be  sure  to  object  to 
shouting.  At  all  the  Conferences,  Synods,  and  Con- 
ventions there  are  squeamish,  selfish  delegates  who 
do  not  want  to  room  with  anybody  else.  They  are 
the  trouble.  One  nervous,  selfish  delegate  gives 
more  trouble  than  all  the  balance  of  the  delegates, 
put  together.  When  I  hear  a  man  say,  "I  can't 
sleep  in  a  room  with  another  man,"  my  opinion  is 
made  up  about  him.  I  heard  Dr.  Hiden,  a  very 
distinguished  Baptist  minister,  tell  the  story  of  the 
old  darkey  and  his  four-ox  team,  with  which  story 
I  will  close.  The  darkey  had  a  name  for  each  steer, 
and,  he  said,  ''he  named  'em  'cording  to  der  carrec- 
ters."  All  the  four  were  good  oxen,  but  each  had 
his  fault.  The  Methodist  steer  was  a  ''mity  pullin' 
steer,"  when  he  got  into  a  bad  place;  but  at  times 
"he'd  drap  back  and  not  pull  a  pound."  (Falling 
from  grace.)  The  Presbyterian  steer  never  pulled 
much,  but  would  pull  a  little  all  the  time,  therefore 
he  was  a  good  steer.  The  Campbellite  was  a  good 
steer,  also,  but  he  wanted  water  all  the  time.  ( Bap- 
tismal regeneration.)  The  Baptist  steer  was  also 
a  good  puller  and  always  to  be  depended  on,  but  he 
gave  him  more  trouble  than  all  the  rest — had  to 
have  a  separate  trough  to  eat  out  of.  (Close  com- 
munion. )  So  it  is  with  the  delegate  at  Conference 
A^^ho  is  afraid  of  snorers — he  has  to  have  a  separate 
room — therefore  gives  more  trouble  than  all  the 
rest. 

I  suggest  that  a  snoring  convention  be  held  in 


238  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Raleigh,  to  take  into  consideration  the  proper 
treatment  of  that  class  of  our  fellow  citizens  who 
are  so  unfortunate  in  temperament  as  not  to  be  able 
to  sleep  between  two  first-class  snorers.  I  am  will- 
ing to  serve  as  secretary  of  said  convention,  if,  from 
experimental  knowledge,  any  of  my  friends  think 
that  I  am  entitled  to  any  honors,  on  account  of  the 
record  I  have  made  in  the  snoring  business. 

To  this  convention  all  the  sensitive  people,  as 
well  as  all  the  nervous  wrecks,  that  can't  stand 
>suoring,  should  be  invited,  and  have  it  explained  to 
them  that  snoring  is  a  healthy  exercise,  and  if  one 
would  be  fully  developed  in  mind,  body  and  useful- 
ness he  must  learn  to  blow  his  own  horn,  and  not  lie 
awake  all  night  listening  at  the  noise  of  somebody 
else's  horn.     Let's  have  the  convention. 

P.  S. — A  Ealeigh  lawyer  thinks  it  Avould  be  un- 
fair not  to  admit  the  legal  fraternity  into  the  pro- 
posed convention.  He  is  dead  sure  that  at  least 
three  Ealeigh  lawyers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  very 
popular  Clerk  of  the  Court,  would  lay  any  preacher 
in  the  shade.  Upon  reflection,  I  am  convinced  that 
the  lawyers  ought  to  and  will  be  admitted,  as  it  is 
important  that  the  very  best  snoring  talent  should 
be  present. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  239 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Funerals  that  Were  Unpretentious — Funeral  Ser- 
mons— Mr.  Thompson  and  Handy  Lockett — 
Hoiv  Boys  Flank  Their  Mammies. 

Burying  a  man  is  about  the  last  thing  we  can  do 
for  him,  and  it  ought  to  be  done  in  good  order.  When 
I  was  a  boy  funerals  and  burials  were  not  so  ex- 
pensive, as  now.  A  burial  was  a  burial,  and  not 
an  occasion  for  a  parade — exhibiting  all  the  livery 
in  the  city  and  displaying  floral  offerings. 

Yes,  a  burial  was  a  burial,  not  a  parade,  and  it 
didn't  cost  like  it  does  now.  The  horse  that  pulled 
the  hearse  and  the  horses  that  drew  the  carriages 
of  the  family  of  the  deceased,  were  all  there  Avere 
in  the  procession.  People  followed  the  hearse  on 
foot,  and  got  there  just  the  same.  The  pall-bear- 
ers walked  on  either  side  of  the  hearse,  and  my  re- 
collection is  they  didn't  have  to  wear  gloves,  as  they 
have  to  do  in  these  days.  The  only  expense  was  the 
coffin,  and  the  digging  of  the  grave,  and  people  were 
just  as  well  buried,  as  they  are  now,  when  carriage 
hire  and  other  expenses  make  funerals  a  burden  to 
many  a  family  that  is  not  able  to  bear  it.  All  the 
friends  followed  the  remains  to  the  grave,  on  foot. 
Now,  only  those  go  who  can  get  a  ride.  I  am  not 
complaining,  but  simply  telling  hoAv  we  used  to  do, 
when  funerals  cost  less,  and  the  poorer  families, 
who  were  not  able  to  hire  carriages  and  incur 
other  expenses,  could  bury  their  dead  in  as  good 
style  as  the  rich.  Dives,  doubtless,  had  a  stylish 
funeral,  and  the  friends  of  the  family  (if  floral 
offerings  were  then  the  custom),  doubtless  covered 
the  grave  with  flowers ;  while  Lazarus,  poor  fellow, 
had  no  burial,  at  all.  But  a  better  thing  came  to 
pass — he  was  carried  by  the  angels  to  Abraham's 


240  \yhitaker's  reminiscences, 

bosom.  That's  the  main  thing,  after  all — having 
an  escort,  after  death,  to  the  mansions  above.  It 
makes  but  little  difference  how  the  body  is  buried ; 
but  it  makes  all  the  difference  how  the  soul  fares 
after  death.  I  always  felt  badly  when  witnessing 
a  pompous  funeral  over  the  dead  body  of  a  man, 
who  all  his  life  was  wicked,  and  who  died  as  he  had 
lived.  If  the  dead  know  what  is  taking  place  on 
earth,  how  tormenting  it  must  be  to  a  lost  soul,  to 
see  the  parade  over  the  body,  while  it  is  suffering, 
as  Jesus  said  of  Dives,  when  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  being  in  torment. 

Speaking  of  funerals,  reminds  me  of  the  old-time 
country  way  of  paying  the  last  tribute  of  respect  to 
the  departed.  Preachers  were  not  as  plentiful  then 
as  now,  therefore  most  people  w^ere  buried  without 
any  services.  The  funeral  being  deferred  to  some 
future  day,  perhaps  in  May,  June  or  July,  when  all 
the  relatives  from  afar,  as  well  as  near,  could  at- 
tend. Such  an  occasion  was  looked  forward  to  as 
one  of  more  than  ordinary  interest,  as  was  always 
demonstrated  by  the  great  crowd  that  attended. 
Sometimes  the  funeral  would  be  preached  at  a 
church;  or  at  other  times  at  the  home  of  the  de- 
ceased, and  sometimes  it  would  be  conducted  at 
the  grave,  seats  being  provided  there  to  accommo- 
date the  many  hundreds  who  attended.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  the  preacher  would  do  his  level  best,  in 
the  hour's  sermon — and,  the  half  hour,  which  he 
devoted  to  the  memory  of  the  departed,  was  ex- 
pected to  be  the  most  thrilling  period  of  the  da}^ 
If  the  preacher  did  his  eulogy  up  all  right,  he  left 
no  doubt,  in  the  minds  of  the  l3ereaved,  of  the  safety 
of  the  soul  of  the  departed.  Without  intending  to 
provoke  mirth,  I  may  mention  an  incident  that  is 
said  to  have  occurred  at  a  funeral  which  Dr.  Closs 
conducted,  away  back  in  the  early  days  of  his  min- 
istry.    Just  as  he  arose  to  take  his  text,  the  Doctor 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  241 

felt  some  one  jerk  his  coat-tail.  Turning  about,  he 
saw  it  was  a  son  of  the  departed  one,  whose  funeral 
he  was  conducting.  The  young  fellow  pulling  the 
Doctor  down,  so  he  could  speak  to  him  in  a  whisper, 
said :  ^^I've  got  a  little  whiskey  here,  and  I'd  like 
for  you  to  take  a  drink.  This  is  dad's  funeral,  and 
I  want  you  to  do  your  level  best." 

Yes,  an  old-time  funeral  sermon  was  a  thing  to 
b(^  remembered,  both  for  length  and  breadth,  as 
well  as  for  height  and  depth.  I  heard  Sam  Jones 
say  that,  if  a  fellow  could  help  it,  he  ought  not  to 
die  in  a  year  after  swapping  horses,  as  he'd  tell 
enough  lies  in  that  one  swap  to  keep  him  busy  re- 
]3enting  for  a  whole  year.  How  about  the  preacher 
who  deals  in  effusive  eulogy,  when  preaching  the 
funeral  of  the  average  man?  Dr.  Pritchard,  I  think, 
it  was,  who  said  in  a  funeral  discourse,  over  a  young 
man  who  was  killed  while  drunk,  ^'I  can  offer  the 
friends  of  the  deceased  no  consolation."  The  re- 
mark shocked  some  in  the  audience;  but  the  fa- 
ther of  the  young  man  said  the  Doctor  did  right; 
that  the  habit  some  preachers  had  of  preaching  sin- 
ners to  heaven,  just  to  gratify  parents  and  friends, 
Avas  a  delusion.  That,  if,  according  to  those  preach- 
ers, a  sinner — a  drunken  sinner  at  that — is  fit  for 
heaven,  everybody  will  soon  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  all  this  ado  about  men's  living  upright  lives, 
as  a  preparation  for  heaven,  is  simply  a  scare-crow. 
I  guess  he  took  the  right  view  of  the  matter.  It  is 
very  probable  that  the  priest  who  preached  Dives' 
funeral  was  telling  about  his  many  virtues  and 
making  the  impression  that  he  was  in  heaven,  at  the 
very  time  the  poor  fellow  was  begging  for  a  drop 
of  water  to  cool  his  parched  tongue. 

William  Thompson,  Esq.,  was  city  undertaker  in 
tiiose  days,  and  he,  and  Handy  Locke tt,  a  ver^^  con- 
sequential old  negro,  generally  walked  in  front  of 
the  hearse.  Handv  was  a  very  dignified,  pompous 
16 


242  WHITAKER-S    REMINISCENCES, 

looking  negro,  who  threw  his  head  back,  when  walk- 
ing, exhibiting  a  mammoth  pair  of  brass-rimmed 
spectacles,  which,  among  the  darkies,  were  sup- 
posed to  be  gold;  and  strutted  when  he  walked,  as 
if  his  knee  joints  were  steel  springs. 

Lest  I  forget  it,  I  had  better  state  it  here,  that 
Handy  became  a  'Squire  under  carpet-bag  and  scal- 
awag rule,  and  no  man  who  had  ever  filled  the  office 
of  Chief  Justice  was  as  dignified,  or  assumed  half 
the  consequentiality  that  Handy  assumed.  I  say 
''consequentiality,''  because  that  was  one  of  his 
favorite  and  oftenest  used  words,  when  holding 
court. 

A  young  lawyer  was  practicing  in  Handy's  court, 
on  one  occasion,  and  took  occasion  to  read  some  de- 
cision of  the  Supreme  Court,  bearing  on  the  point 
at  issue,  remarking,  '^That  is  the  law." 

Handy  reared  back  in  his  seat,  put  his  feet  on  the 
table  in  front  of  him,  threw  his  eyes  up  toward  the 
ceiling,  and  speaking  in  a  judicial  tone  of  voice, 
said :  ^^Dat  may  be  de  law  in  de  'Spreem  Cort,  but 
it  taint  de  law  in  dis  onibul  Cort." 

Of  course  the  case  was  decided  according  to  the 
law  in  'Squire  Lockett's  court. 

Handy  was  Mr.  Thompson's  slave,  but,  at  the 
head  of  a  funeral  procession,  walking  by  the  side 
of  his  master,  he  acknowledged  no  superior.  Next 
to  Stephen  Gales,  the  pressman  of  the  old  Raleigh 
Register^  Handy  was  the  most  aristocratic  negro  in 
Ealeigh. 

The  ingenuity  of  boys,  in  flanking  whippings  by 
mothers,  is  Avonderful.  I  overheard  the  folloAving 
dialogue  the  other  da}',  betAveen  a  mother  and  a  boy 
she  was  about  to  catch  up  with.  The  mother,  in 
a  very  sharp  tone  of  voice  that  sounded  very  much 
like  there  was  a  hickory  up  her  sleeve,  said  to  the 
criminal  looking  urchin  that  stood  before  her: 

^'Didn't  I  tell  vou  not  to  go  to  that  pond?'' 

"Yes'm." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


243 


Handy  Lockett.— 'Dat  may  be  de  law  in  de  s'preem  cort,  but  it  taint  de 
law  in  dis  onibul  cort." 


244  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

^That  if  you  did  go  I'd  whip  you?'' 

^'Yes'm." 

"Come  right  here  and  take  your  jacket  off.  I'll 
let  you  know  that  when  I  tell  you  not  to  go,  you  are 
not  to  go." 

The  boy's  face  brightened.  An  idea  had  struck 
him,  and  with  triumph  in  his  eyes,  he  said : 

"I  'clare  to  gracious  I  didn't  go  to  the  pond !" 

"Why,  you  story  teller,  I  know  you  were  down 
there,  for  Bob  Jones  and  Bill  Smith  both  told  me 
so." 

"Yes'm ;  I  was  down  there,  but  I  didn't  GO  down 
there." 

"How  did  you  get  there,  if  you  didn't  go?  Tell 
me  that." 

"I  COME  down  there.  I  went  in  the  old  field  to 
hunt  blackberries,  Jim  Davis  and  me,  and  we  got 
lost,  and  the  first  thing  we  knowed  we  come  right 
doAvn  to  the  pond.  I  'clare  to  gracious  I  didn't  ^go' 
to  the  pond.     You  can  ask  Bill  Davis  if  I  did." 

"It's  well  you  did'nt  go,  for  I  certainly  should 
have  whipped  you."  Then  the  mother  patted  her 
good  little  boy  on  the  head  and  praised  him  for 
his  obedience. 

A  few  minutes  later  the  boy  told  his  companions 
how  near  his  mother  came  to  catching  him,  and 
had  a  big  laugh  over  the  way  he  riggied  out  of  a 
whipping,  while  the  mother  was  congratulating 
herself  upon  having  such  an  obedient  boy. 

I  used  to  hear  a  similar  story.  A  mother  for- 
bade her  son's  going  in  the  creek  bathing,  on  Sun- 
day evening;  but,  he  went  in  all  the  same.  When 
he  came  to  the  supper  table,  Sunday  night,  the 
mother  ran  her  fingers  through  his  hair,  saying: 

"You  have  been  in  the  creek,  John." 

"No'm  I  ain't,"  he  said. 

"But  I  know  you  have,  for  your  hair  is  right  wet." 

"That's  sweat,"  the  boy  replied. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  245 

^'How  comes  it  that  your  shirt  is  turned  wrong 
side  out?''  the  mother  asked. 

"I — I — I  done  that  getting  over  the  fence/'  the 
boy  innocently  replied. 

The  mother  knew  that  was  a  story,  but  she 
thought  her  little  boy  deserved  to  go  free  for  his 
smartness;  so  she  only  said: 

"You  must  be  careful  in  getting  over  fences,  or 
you  might  tear  all  your  clothes  off." 

And  the  boy  promised  her  he  would. 

A  great  many  years  ago  a  boy  of  this  city  was 
shot  while  trespassing  upon  a  gentleman's  premi- 
ses— stealing  fruit  or  watermelons.  His  legs  were 
filled  with  bird  shot.  When  he  went  home  he  told 
his  mother  that  he  and  another  boy  were  out  rab- 
bit hunting,  and  the  other  boy  seeing  a  rabbit, 
shot  at  it  just  as  it  was  running  between  his  legs, 
and  the  mother  never  knew  any  better.  The  only 
strange  part  of  the  story  to  the  mother  was,  her 
son  couldn't  remember  what  boy  it  was  that  did 
the  shooting. 

Boys,  and  girls,  too,  are  smarter  than  they  were 
when  I  was  a  boy;  or  the  mothers  are  not  quite  so 
strict  with  them  and  don't  always  keep  their  w^ord 
as  mothers  did,  in  those  days.  If  my  mother  said  I 
must  not  go  to  a  place,  I  understood  that  to  mean 
I  must  not  "^o"  nor  "come";  but,  keep  well  away 
from  that  place.  And  I  do  not  remember  that  my 
mother  ever  told  a  story  about  whipping  her  chil- 
dren. If  she  promised  to  whip  one,  he  knew  he'd 
get  it  in  due  time  and  in  full  measure.  Knowing 
how  true  she  was  to  her  promises,  on  the  whipping 
question,  we  children  were  very  careful  not  to  run 
any  very  great  risks  in  going  contrary  to  orders. 
If  she  said  "go,"  we  went;  if  she  said  "come,"  we 
came,  and  asked  no  questions  as  to  whys  and  where- 
fores. 


246  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

I  notice  nowadays  that  some  mothers  may  tell 
their  children  a  dozen  times  ^^to  go/'  and  even 
threaten  to  whip  them,  but  the  young  hoi)efuls 
don't  go.  They  are  smart  enough  to  know  that 
their  mothers  don't  mean  to  whip  them.  Many 
children  have  no  respect  for  their  mother's  author- 
ity, for  they  have  no  confidence  in  them.  Some 
mothers  tell  their  children  a  hundred  stories  a 
day,  saying :  ^'If  you  do  that  again,  I'll  whip  you !" 
— but  it  has  no  more  effect  on  the  average  child, 
than  the  chirping  of  a  cricket  in  the  closet.  The 
child  don't  believe  a  word  of  it;  therefore,  does  so 
again,  and  keeps  on  doing  so.  Whereupon,  with 
an  air  of  despair,  the  mother  declares  she's  got  the 
worst  children  in  the  world,  although  "she's  done 
all  that  a  mother  could  do  to  raise  them  right."  The 
truth  is,  she's  done  nothing  but  scold ;  and  scolding 
never  made  anything,  (much  less  a  child),  any  bet- 
ter. My  experience  as  a  boy,  taught  me,  there  was 
more  virtue  in  the  rod  than  in  the  tongue.  I  didn't 
mind  a  lecture  now  and  then;  but,  when  mother 
took  me  by  the  collar,  and,  without  saying  a  word, 
marched  me  toward  the  pantry  where  she  kept  her 
switch,  I  began  at  once  to  feel  that  I  ought  to  be  a 
better  boy,  and  when  she  was  through  with  me  I 
had  fully  made  up  my  mind  that  I  never  w^ould  run 
up  against  that  hickory  again.  And  so,  when  at 
times  I  was  tempted  to  do  forbidden  things,  or  to 
leave  undone  things  I  had  been  told  to  do,  that 
pantry  and  that  hickory  warned  me  to  beware,  and 
I  generally  heeded  the  admonition.  No,  my  mother 
never  told  me  a  lie;  if  she  said  she'd  whip  me,  I 
knew  I'd  get  it ;  and  so  I  tried  to  be  a  very  dutiful 
little  bov. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  247 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

llural  Deliveries — Old-Time  Mail  Route — Bpanhing 
a  Yankee. 

Rural  Free  Deliveries  are  wonderful  improve- 
ments upon  the  old-time  star-routes,  when  a  fellow 
on  horse-back,  carrying  a  pair  of  saddle-bags,  went 
a  journey  of  a  hundred  miles,  more  or  less,  to  sup- 
ply a  sparsely  settled  country  with  a  few  letters 
and  still  fewer  newspa]3ers.  In  my  young  days 
my  father  had  a  contract  for  carrying  the  mail 
from  Raleigh  to  Johnsonville,  in  Cumberland 
ccunty,  a  post-office  west  of  Fayetteville,  and  for 
a  few  months  this  writer  enjoyed  the  privilege  and 
(for  a  while)  the  pleasure  of  being  a  mail  carrier. 

To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  insignificance 
of  the  mail  service  of  that  day,  as  compared  with 
the  advantages  the  people  now  enjoy,  I  will  write 
up  a  trip  that  had  to  be  made  once  a  week.  And 
to  begin,  I  must  state  that  my  father  lived  twelve 
miles  south  of  Raleigh,  and  as  this  was  the  start- 
ing point,  we  usually  came  here  on  Thursday  even- 
ing to  be  ready,  as  the,  contract  required,  to  start 
with  the  mail  early  Friday  morning.  As  we  had  a 
post-office  (^^Middle  Creek,'')  at  our  home,  the  rider 
would  reach  there  for  breakfast.  Then  he  would 
start  for  Holly  Springs,  which  place  he  would  pass 
about  11  a.  m.,  where  he  would  give  his  horse  a 
bundle  of  fodder,  and  a  few  ears  of  corn,  and  eat 
his  lunch,  consisting  of  biscuits  and  fried  chicken, 
or  ham. 

Leaving  Holly  Springs  he  would  go  westward, 
passing  the  Bookers,  the  Booths,  and  the  Collins', 
he  would  finally  fall  into  the  Raleigh  and  Haywood 
road,  and,  crossing  Haw  River,  he  would  deliver 
mail  to  the  Haywood  office.     By  then  it  was  grow- 


248  \yhitaker's  reminiscences, 

ing  late  in  the  day.  Leaying  Haywood  and  cross- 
ing Deep  River  on  the  Haywood  and  Fayetteville 
road,  he  would  go  about  six  or  seven  miles  to  Mr. 
John  McLeod's  and  spend  the  night.  He  w^as  the 
grandfather  of  Mr.  John  T.  Pullen,  of  this  city,  as 
well  as  of  Mrs.  C.  H.  Belvin  and  Mrs.  Dr.  L.  W. 
Crawford.  Saturdaj^  morning  bright  and  early  the 
rider  w^ould  be  on  his  way  to  ^'Rollins'  Store,"  in 
Moore  county,  a  few  miles  east  of  where  Jonesboro 
is  located.  There  he  fed  and  got  breakfast.  From 
Rollins'  Store  he  went  a  southwest  direction, 
tlirough  the  piney  woods,  most  of  the  time  travel- 
ing a  mere  trail  of  a  path,  (flushing  every  now  and 
then  large  flocks  of  wild  turkeys,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  jumping  a  deer),  to  Johnsonville  P.  O.,  of 
A^'hich  Mr.  John  W.  Cameron  was  postmaster. 
There  he  fed  and  took  dinner.  Mr.  Cameron,  I 
remember,  was  very  careful  in  arranging  his  mail 
matter.  For  instance,  I  have  frequently  seen  him, 
after  folding  a  letter  and  sealing  it  with  a  wafer, 
take  a  flat-iron  and  smooth  it.  Envelopes  were 
not  much  used  in  those .  days.  After  dinner  the 
rider  went  in  a  northAvest  direction  to  Pocket  P.  O., 
in  Moore  county,  of  which  Daniel  Macintosh  was 
postmaster.  There  he  found  a  good  supper  and  a 
nice  bed  to  sleep  on,  and  generally  felt  very  much 
like  eating  and  sleeping,  after  making  such  a  long 
ride.  Sunday  morning,  coming  east,  he  would  pass 
Buffalo  Presbyterian  church  and  also  where  Jones- 
boro now  stands,  and  take  breakfast  at  John  Shep- 
pard's.  Long  Street  P.  O.  After  breakfast  he  would 
come  on  and  cross  Cape  Fear  River  at  Avent's 
Ferry,  and  coming  through  the  Buckhorn  country, 
leaving  Holly  Springs  to  the  north  and  Piney  Grove 
to  the  south,  would  reach  home  that  (Sunday) 
evening.  Monday  morning  he  would  come  to  Ra- 
leigh and  deliver  his  mail  bag  to  old  Postmaster 
White   at  the   post-office,  which   stood   somewhere 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  249 

uear  Avliere  the  Tucker  Building  stands.  What  a 
journej  was  that  to  supply  only  seven  offices !  And 
to  think  that  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  would  carry  all 
the  mail  matter  that  Avent  into  all  that  country, 
seems  almost  incredible,  when  we  see  the  many  bags 
that  go  out  daily  on  the  trains,  filled  with  papers 
and  letters,  into  the  same  territory. 

How  things  have  changed  since  I  used  to  ride  the 
mail,  especially  in  the  country  I  then  traversed.  In 
the  first  place,  a  railroad  runs  through  my  father's 
old  plantation,  where  Middle  Creek  post-office  was, 
and  a  railroad  runs  to  Holly  Springs,  and  a  railroad 
runs  to  Haywood,  and  one  runs  to  Jonesboro,  not 
far  from  Rollins'  Store  and  Pocket,  and  one  runs 
not  far  from  Johnsonville;  all  of  which  have  been 
built  since  that  time.  And  in  the  second  place  the 
old  people  have  died  and  their  children  have  taken 
their  places,  and  schools  and  villages  and  even 
towns  have  sprung  up;  so  that  where  the  old-field 
log  school-house  stood,  an  academy  now  stands ;  and 
instead  of  the  little  hamlet  with  a  few  unpainted 
dwellings,  a  town  has  sprung  up,  and  is  quite  as 
large  as  Raleigh  was^  when  I  Avas  a  boy.  The 
country,  by  the  way,  will  soon  be  all  town — or  at 
least  Avill  enjoy  town  facilities.  With  good  tele- 
phone lines  and  an  abundance  of  churches,  the 
country  will  ere  long  be  as  much  in  town  as  it  need 
be,  so  far  as  real  enjoyments  are  concerned.  If  I 
were  a  young  man,  and  my  ambition  was  to  live 
long  and  be  happy,  I  certainly  should  try  to  locate 
in  the  country,  as  things  now  are;  for,  by  the  time 
one  pays  tOAvn  taxes  and  the  high  prices  for  such 
things  as  he  would  like  to  have,  (and  would  have, 
if  he  lived  on  a  farm),  he  has  paid  j)retty  dearly 
for  the  privilege  of  living  on  a  quarter-acre  lot  in 
town.  Town  privileges,  like  spring  chickens,  cost 
more  than  they  are  worth,  unless  a  man  has  a  rail- 
road job,  with  a  good  salary. 


250  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCE^'CES, 

Speaking  of  Johnsonville  P.  O.,  reminds  me  to 
say  that  when  Sherman's  army  was  approaching 
Fayetteville,  Kilpatrick  camped  near  that  old-time 
post-office  the  night  before  the  army  entered  Fay- 
etteville,  and  although  he  must  have  been  very 
tired,  and  although,  it  was  said,  he  had  a  lady(?) 
in  his  tent.  General  Joe  Wheeler's  cavalry  had  the 
audacity  and  the  ill-manners  to  make  a  dash  into 
his  camp  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  run  him  and 
his  lady  friend  out  in  their  night  clothes,  thereby 
making  a  scandal,  that  had  quite  a  run  about  the 
winding  up  of  the  war.  Wheeler's  cavalry  gave 
Sherman's  army  much  trouble,  for  like  Stonewall 
Jackson's  foot  cavalry,  they  turned  up  at  the  most 
unexpected  times  and  places  and  made  a  sensation 
Avherever  they  appeared. 

I  was  a  refugee  when  the  Yankees  came  to  Kal- 
eigh;  or,  at  least,  I  was  en  route,  through  the  coun- 
try, for  Charlotte,  as  it  was  supposed,  when  Eich- 
mond  fell,  that  Charlotte  would  be  made  the  tem- 
porary abode  of  President  Davis  and  his  cabinet. 
Col.  D.  K.  McRae,  the  editor  of  the  Daily  Confed- 
erate ^  informed  me  that  the  press  and  fixtures  of 
that  paper  would  be  carried  to  Charlotte,  and  told 
me,  as  well  as  the  other  members  of  the  staff,  to  go 
on  there  and  be  ready  to  commence  publication  as 
soon  as  the  office  material  could  be  put  in  shape. 
After  hauling  all  my  corn,  wheat,  oats,  fodder,  peas, 
hay,  etc.,  to  Raleigh  and  delivering  them  to  the 
Confederate  authorities  for  the  use  of  the  army, 
taking  receipts  which  promised  to  pay  back  in  kind, 
after  the  Yankees  had  passed  by,  I  loaded  my  wag- 
ons and,  with  my  family,  started  through  the  coun- 
try to  Charlotte.  On  the  second  evening  I  camped 
about  fifteen  miles  west  of  Fayetteville,  near  a  Mrs. 
Monroe's,  where  the  Yankees  had  recently  been.  A 
Mrs.  McDougald,  daughter  of  ^Irs.  Monroe,  enter- 
tained and  amused  wife  and  me,  telling  her  ex- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


251 


Spanking  a  Yankee.— "I  jerked  him  across  mj-  lap  and  spanked  him  well. 


252  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

perience  with  the  Yankees.  The  people  of  Fajette- 
ville  had  sent  a  cheese  box  full  of  watches  and 
jewelry  to  her  for  safe  keeping,  and  by  some  means 
the  Yankees  found  it  out,  and  they  worried  her  no 
little,  trying  to  make  her  tell  where  the  box  w^as 
hid.  She  told  us  of  a  Yankee,  of  rather  small  stat- 
ure and  light  weight,  who  was  very  insolent,  order- 
ing her  to  get  up  from  her  seat,  in  very  rough  lan- 
guage. ^^It  made  me  so  mad,"  said  she,  "I  caught 
hold  of  him  as  he  stood  near  me,  jerked  him  across 
my  lap,  and  spanked  him  well,  and  then  rolled  him 
on  the  floor  at  my  feet.  He  jumped  up  as  soon  as 
ho  could  and  threatened  to  shoot  me;  but  the  other 
Yankees  who  saw  me  spank  him,  and  were  almost 
dying  a  laughing  at  him,  told  him  if  he  didn't  shut 
up  and  behave  himself  they  would  whip  him  for 
sure  enough.  No,''  said  she,  ^'they  didn't  find  that 
box,  but  thousands  of  Yankees  walked  over  it.  One 
fellow  thought  he  would  make  me  betray  myself, 
by  coming  in  and  saying:  ^We've  found  it,'  think- 
ing I'd  look  in  the  direction  of  where  it  was  hid, 
but  I  didn't.  I  simply  said:  ^If  you've  found  it, 
all  right;  but  I  didn't  tell  you  where  it  was,  did  I?' 
He  was  telling  a  lie  and  I  knew  it." 

Before  reaching  Mrs.  Monroe's  that  evening,  I 
met  Major  Wright  Huske,  who  had  been  stationed 
at  Camp  Holmes,  just  north  of  this  city,  and  to  my 
astonishment  and  consternation  he  informed  me 
that  General  Lee  had  surrendered;  the  war  was 
over  and  the  Confederate  Government  was  a  thing 
of  the  past;  and  that  I  need  not  go  another  mile 
toward  Charlotte  in  the  expectation  of  meeting 
Colonel  McEae  there;  that  the  Dally  Confederate, 
like  the  Confederate  States,  w^as  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

I  never  felt  so  poor  in  all  my  life ;  though  I  had 
thousands  of  dollars  of  Confederate  money  in  my 
pocket,  I  was  not  able  to  buy  one  feed  for  my  teams. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  253 

Next  morning,  leaving  my  wagons  and  teams  at 
Mrs.  Monroe's,  my  wife  and  I  drove  down  to  Fay- 
etteville  to  get  the  straight  of  the  matter.  I  was 
not  personally  acquainted  with  E.  J.  Hale,  Esq., 
the  editor  of  the  Observer;  but,  as  he  and  my  father 
were  boys  together  in  the  office  of  the  old  Raleigh 
Register^  in  the  days  of  Joseph  Gales,  about  the 
time  of  the  war  of  1812-'13 — and  as  they  were 
still  friends — I  felt  that  I  would  like  to  get  his 
opinion  as  to  the  situation,  and  his  advice  as  to  my 
movements.  He  confirmed  the  statement  of  Major 
Huske,  and  advised  me  not  to  go  any  farther  toward 
Charlotte,  but  let  my  teams  remain  where  they  were 
for  a  few  days,  and  then  move  them  down  toward 
Fayetteville.  That  was  on  a  Saturday  evening. 
Sunday  I  spent  in  Fayetteville  with  Mr.  Thomas 
Pickett,  my  wife's  uncle,  a  refugee  from  near  Wil- 
mington. Monday  morning,  to  my  astonishment, 
I  saw  my  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Richard  Koonce,  driv- 
ing into  town,  and  reporting  that  the  Yankees  in 
a  large  body,  with  a  great  many  wagons,  had  crossed 
the  Cape  Fear  at  McNeill's  Ferry,  and  seemed  to 
be  heading  toward  Charlotte.  I  had  parted  with 
Mr.  Koonce  near  Lillington;  he  expecting  to  re- 
turn home  as  soon  as  the  Yankees  had  passed  Ral- 
eigh, while  I  expected  to  go  on  to  Charlotte.  The 
report  he  brought  was  stunning,  because  I  knew 
that  my  teams  and  all  the  valuables  I  had,  includ- 
ing about  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  bacon,  were  on 
the  road  the  Yankees  were  said  to  be  marching.  I 
drove  as  rapidly  as  I  could  towards  Mrs.  Monroe's, 
feeling  my  way  very  carefully,  however,  the  nearer 
I  got  to  where  I  left  my  teams.  When  I  finally 
reached  them,  I  found  all  there — drivers  as  well  as 
teams — but  learned  that  a  large  body  of  Yankee 
prisoners,  in  the  hands  of  Wheeler's  cavalry,  did 
pass  that  place  on  the  day  before,  (Sunday),  and 
the   wagons    were    loaded    with    provisions,  which 


254  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Wheeler's  men  were  distributing  freely  to  the  peo- 
ple; and  Mrs.  McDougald  informed  me  that  one  of 
the  prisoners  was  no  other  than  the  little  fellow 
that  she  took  across  her  lap  and  spanked. 

Now  about  those  wagons  and  provisions:  As 
the  armies  Avere  coming  toward  Raleigh  from  Ben- 
tonsyille,  several  Yankee  officers  stopped  one  night 
with  Mr.  Henry  Finch,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
Ealeigh.  Next  morning  before  those  officers  had 
left  Mr.  Finch's  a  thing  occurred  that,  in  the  wind- 
up  of  the  war,  did  not  become  very  generally  known. 
There  was  a  fork  of  roads  at  Mr.  Finch's,  and  as  a 
portion  of  Sherman's  wagon  train  reached  that 
fork,  an  officer  dressed  in  Yankee  uniform,  dashed 
in  among  the  wagons  and  shouted:  ^'Take  the  left- 
hand  road  and  drive  like  h — 1;  Wheeler's  cavalry 
is  just  up  that  right-hand  road  and  will  capture  the 
last  one  of  you !  Drive  for  your  lives,  I  tell  you !" 
And  they  did  drive.  It  was  said  that  a  dozen  or 
more  wagons  with  their  guards  were  soon  out  of 
sight  heading  towards  the  Cape  Fear,  and  a  por- 
tion of  Wheeler's  cavalry  fell  behind  them  and 
hurried  them  on.  Of  course  it  is  understood  that 
the  officer  who  gave  the  order  to  the  drivers  to  take 
the  left-hand  road  was  one  of  Wheeler's  cavalry  in 
Yankee  uniform.  When  the  Yankees  discovered 
the  ruse  it  so  enraged  them  that  they  burnt  Mr. 
Finch's  residence,  and  tried  to  burn  Mr.  Finch  and 
his  wife  in  it.  They  had  barred  the  doors  and  piled 
hay  around  them  and  set  it  on  fire  to  prevent  Mr. 
Finch  and  his  wife  from  escaping,  and,  but  for  the 
timely  interference  of  the  officers  who  staid  there 
the  night  before,  they  would  have  been  burned. 
They  were  the  prisoners  and  those  were  the  wagons 
which  crossed  the  Cape  Fear  and  gave  us  all  such  a 
scare. 

I  soon  moved  my  teams  down  to  Fayetteville, 
crossed    the    Cape    Fear,    and    following    the    two 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  255 

armies,  came  on  up  to  Smith's  battlefield,  near 
Averasboro,  and  hearing  that  Sherman's  army  was 
still  in  and  around  Raleigh,  I  re-crossed  the  Cape 
Fear,  rented  land  from  Mr.  John  C.  Williams,  and 
pitched  a  crop.  I  had  plenty  of  horses  and  for  a 
few  days,  plenty  of  hands;  but,  hearing  that  the 
A^'ar  was  over  and  they  were  free,  they  dropped  out, 
one  or  two  each  night,  until  they  all  went.  But 
before  they  went  I  had  broken  up  and  planted 
enough  river  land  to  make  a  hundred  barrels  of 
corn.  I  managed  to  have  it  plowed  one  time,  sow- 
ing down  peas,  when  the  corn  was  hardly  knee  high, 
and  that  was  the  last  of  it.  Corn,  peas  and  weeds 
had  a  tight  race;  but,  the  corn  and  peas  I  raised 
brought  me  in  a  nice  roll  of  greenbacks. 

Next  fall,  after  disposing  of  my  crop,  I  came 
home,  bringing  all  the  watches,  jewelry  and  silver- 
ware, which  the  Yankees  knew  I  had;  but,  as  they 
didn't  know  where  to  find  me,  they  failed  to  get. 

I  have  had  right  much  to  say  about  myself;  but, 
it's  all  history,  and  the  events  referred  to  were 
very  real  in  their  day  and  time.  I  want  to  say, 
before  closing  this  sketch,  that  no  refugee  in  the 
days  of  the  ''break-up,"  had  a  better  time  than  I. 
As  neighbors  I  had  the  Williams's,  McNeills, 
Smiths,  Elliots,  Harrises,  Parkers,  Hodges  and 
Surleses,  all  of  whom  were  more  than  kind,  and, 
although  the  Yankees  had  passed  through  that 
country,  these  good  people  had  plenty  to  live  upon 
and  to  divide  with  a  refugee.  And,  while  I  had  no 
money,  I  could  buy  anything  I  needed  with  bacon, 
of  which  I  had  more  than  a  plenty,  after  my  ne- 
groes left  me.  With  a  hatchet,  saw  and  an  auger, 
I  made  a  first-class  sofa,  out  of  fence  rails,  and 
upholstered  it  with  Avheat  straw  and  one  of  my 
wife's  old  home-s]3un  dresses,  made  of  Confederate 
silk.  It  was  both  useful  and  ornamental,  and  we 
were  proud  of  it.     The  neighbors  loaned  us  some 


256  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

bedsteads  and  chairs,  and  having  plenty  of  feather 
beds  which  we  carried  from  home,  our  house,  though 
not  elegantly,  was,  we  thought,  very  comfortably 
furnished.  We  had  no  spring  chickens,  but  the 
squirrels  came  in  troops,  from  the  river  low-ground 
up  to  the  grove,  surrounding  our  house,  so  that  I 
could  sit  in  my  porch  before  breakfast  and  kill 
enough  to  feed  us  a  day.  It  was  almost  like  the 
coming  of  quails  into  the  camp  of  Israel. 

We  had  many  rare  experiences  Avhile  refugeeing, 
but  in  the  main  we  had  a  good  time.  Mrs.  W.  P. 
Oldham,  of  Wilmington,  my  wife's  cousin,  who 
was  then  a  happy-hearted  girl,  making  everything 
cheerful  and  bright  about  her,  will,  if  she  reads  this 
sketch,  recall  many  incidents  connected  with  those 
days  that  will,  doubtless,  provoke  old-time  hearty 
laughter.  O,  how  delightful  to  sit  and  think  of  the 
young  life — the  happy  days,  ere  cares  and  troubles 
beclouded  our  sky ! 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Some  Old-time  Preachers — Circuit  Riders — Chicken 
Eaters — Bishop  Eaygood's  Dinner  Hen — A 
Boy  Fished  Up  the  Freachefs  Teeth,  Etc. 

Some  person  wrote  to  me  not  very  long  ago  about 
Rev.  Littlejohn  Utley,  a  preacher  who  was  well 
known  in  Wake,  Chatham  and  Orange  counties  fifty 
or  sixty  years  ago,  and  Avhose  relatives  were  very 
numerous  in  Wake.  I  remember  him  as  an  old 
man  Avith  white  head  and  jolly  red  face;  whose 
height  was  about  five  feet  ten  inches,  and  whose 
weight  was  perhaps  a  hundred  and  sixty  pounds. 
His  face  wore  a  very  l)enevolent  expression,  and  his 
general  demeanor  was  that  of  a  consistent  Chris- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  257 

tian  minister.  He  was  a  preacher  of  great  popu- 
larity, though  I  am  not  able  to  say  whether  or  not 
he  was  a  man  of  education  or  of  more  than  ordinary 
preaching  ability.  He  had  regular  appointments 
at  Pleasant  Springs,  eight  miles  south  of  Kaleigh, 
frequently  held  services  at  private  houses,  and  was 
always  gladly  received  wherever  he  went,  as  every- 
body had  the  utmost  confidence  in  him;  regarding 
him  as  an  earnest,  faithful  minister  of  Christ.  He 
belonged  to  the  Christian  Church.  There  are  many 
people  living  in  Wake,  besides  a  host  who  have 
drifted  off  into  other  counties  and  States,  who  are 
his  descendants,  or  related  to  him.  The  first  bap- 
tism service  by  immersion  I  ever  witnessed,  he  per- 
formed in  Swift  Creek,  not  far  from  where  Capt. 
Stephen  Stephenson  lived.  I  was  but  a  boy,  and  I 
remember  that  other  boys,  as  well  as  myself,  were 
impressed  with  the  service;  and  not  many  days 
after,  sacrilegious  as  it  may  seem  to  the  reader, 
we  boys  had  a  baptizing  of  our  own,  and,  contrary 
to  all  precedents,  the  baptisms  were  repeated  until 
each  boy  had  had  his  turn  as  a  baptizer.  Our 
teacher  would  have  poured  the  hickory  upon  us  if 
he  had  heard  of  it;  but,  luckily  for  our  hides,  the 
matter  never  came  to  his  ears. 

Rev.  Burwell  Temple,  a  Primitive  Baptist 
preacher,  Avas  a  very  conspicuous  character  in  my 
young  days.  He  resided  not  far  from  Milburnie, 
and  was  the  father  of  James  Temple,  Esq.,  who 
now  lives  in  the  Milburnie  community.  He  pub- 
lished The  Primitive  baptist,  and  through  its  col- 
umns he  was  well  known,  not  only  in  this,  but  in 
many  other  States.  He  was  a  Jacksonian  Demo- 
crat, and  believed  that  paying  one's  debts  and  vot- 
ing the  Democratic  ticket  were  virtues  Avhich  were 
almost  indispensable  in  a  Avell-developed  Christian 
character.  Like  many  other  preachers  of  his  day 
and  time,  he  thought  a  brandy  toddy  after  preach- 
17 


258 

ing  a  two-hour's  sermon  was  not  at  all  amiss,  but 
he  had  no  patience  with  drunkenness. 

I  do  not  remember  very  much  about  Rev.  George 
Nance,  also  a  Primitive  Baptist  preacher,  who  lived 
southeast  of  Raleigh  about  five  miles  from  Garner, 
though  I  knew  well  some  of  his  children.  Mr. 
Nance  was  one  of  Wake's  best  citizens  and  a  popu- 
lar minister  whom  all  denominations  were  fond  of 
hearing.  They  said  he  always  rode  a  fat  horse  to 
his  appointments,  which  proved  that  he  was  a 
thrifty  farmer,  as  well  as  a  preacher,  and  if,  when 
he  got  up  to  preach,  the  weather  was  uncomforta- 
bly warm,  he  would  take  off  his  coat,  unbutton  his 
vest  and  collar,  and  proceed  in  a  sensible  way,  which 
sliowed  that  he  was  a  sensible  man.  Our  friend, 
Charlie  McCullers,  on  the  corner  near  the  Union 
Depot,  is  his  grandson.  By  the  way,  he  informed 
me  the  other  day  that  my  recent  article  on  ''snor- 
ing" had  gotten  him  into  a  difficulty — that  his  wife 
had  used,  or  proposed  to  use,  some  very  heroic 
methods  to  keep  him  from  breathing  so  loud  at 
night,  and,  I  suppose,  make  him  adopt  the  smoking 
snore  in  place  of  the  snort,  or  whatever  snore  he 
snores. 

Rev.  Anthony  Francks,  a  Christian  preacher,  was 
another  whom  I  used  to  hear  when  I  was  a  boy.  He 
lived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Catawba  Springs  church, 
and  was  a  most  exemplary  man,  though  not  a  great 
preacher.  He  did  not  have  the  command  of  words 
to  express  himself  very  elegantly ;  but,  what  he  said 
was  good  and  generally  to  the  point.  Albert  Hin- 
ton  used  to  get  off  some  jokes  at  Mr.  Francks's  ex- 
pense, but  he  could  not  tease  him  with  them  very 
much,  if  at  all;  for  he  knew  that  Albert  was  a 
pretty  hard  case,  and  the  people  knew  how  to  make 
allowances  for  his  fun.  One  of  the  jokes  was  that 
he,  Albei't,  out  hunting  one  day,  came  near  to  where 
Mr.  Francks  was  trying  to  prize  up  a  log  and  put  a 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  259 

block  under  it.  lie  could  prize  the  log  easy  enough, 
but,  when  he  slipped  along  on  the  lever  to  put  the 
block  under,  his  weight  being  diminished  the  nearer 
he  got  to  the  fulcrum,  suddenly  the  lever  would 
fly  up,  and  down  the  log  would  go.  Albert  said 
he  witnessed  repeated  trials,  before  he  made  his 
presence  known,  and  that  every  time  the  lever  flew 
up  and  the  log  went  down,  the  preacher  would  say: 
''If  I  did  think  it,  bless  the  Lord  I  didn't  say  it!" 
The  impression  that  Albert  tried  to  make  was  that 
the  preacher  thought  bad  words.  Mr.  Francks  was 
a  good  man,  and  has  many  descendants  out  on  Swift 
Creek,  who  have  good  reasons  for  honoring  his 
memory. 

Rev.  Patrick  Dowd,  a  Missionary  Baptist  preach- 
er, was,  perhaps,  the  most  noted,  as  he  was  a  very 
able  preacher  of  my  boyhood  days.  He  was  an 
orator  of  high  order,  and  drew  large  crowds  where- 
ever  and  whenever  he  preached.  The  last  time  I 
remember  hearing  him  was  at  old  Pleasant  Springs, 
when  he  preached  the  funeral  of  David  Henry  Ste- 
phenson, an  older  brother  of  W.  R.  Stephenson, 
Esq.,  of  Swift  Creek  Township.  As  I  now  remem- 
ber, 31r.  DoAvd  was  the  ablest  minister  of  his  de- 
nomination in  Wake  county,  if  not  in  the  State, 
and  it  was  said  that  at  the  funeral  referred  to,  he 
preached  one  of  the  greatest  sermons  of  his  life. 

Rev.  James  Wilson,  Primitive  Baptist,  used  to 
preach  at  Muddy  Springs,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Youngs,  Hobby s,  Gulleys,  Smiths,  Stevenses, 
Turners  and  Pennys,  about  twelve  miles  southeast 
of  Raleigh,  and  also  at  Willow  Springs,  about  the 
same  distance  south  of  Raleigh. 

Of  course  Ave  had  :\Iethodist  preachers;  but  they 
were  circuit  riders,  staying  but  a  year,  or  two  years, 
at  most.  I  remember  Rev.  Daniel  Culbreth,  Rev. 
John  Rich,  Rev.  Alfred  Xorman,  Rev.  Charles  P. 
Jones,  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Campbell,  Rev.  E.  E.  Free- 


260  \YHITAKER-S    REMINISCENCES, 

man,  Eev.  Wm.  E.  Pell,  Rev.  Hezekiah  G.  Lee,  Rev. 
James  E.  Jamieson,  Rev.  Peter  Doub  and  Rev. 
Thompson  Garrard,  who  preached  to  the  people 
at  the  old  "Red  Meeting-House,"  (Holland's 
chnrch ) ,  in  the  ante-bellum  days. 

Rev.  John  Rich  baptized  by  immersion  some  per- 
sons at  Simeon  Utley's  mill,  and,  going  into  the 
water  in  his  stocking  feet,  snagged  his  foot,  which 
wound  gave  him  great  pain  at  the  time,  and,  if  I 
mistake  not,  finally  brought  about  his  death. 

What  reverence  I  used  to  have  for  preachers! 
When  the  circuit  rider  came,  dismounted  at  the 
gate  and,  with  saddle-bags  on  his  arm,  came  towards 
the  house,  the  spinning-wheels  in  the  kitchen  ceased 
their  hum,  the  children  at  play  spake  in  subdued 
tones,  the  father  hurried  from  the  work  shelter, 
where  he  was  helving  a  hoe  or  mending  a  plow, 
while  the  mother  made  haste  to  smoothe  her  hair, 
put  on  a  clean  apron  and  a  pleased  countenance  to 
meet  and  welcome  the  preacher.  Even  the  plow- 
men and  the  hoe  hands  in  the  field  felt  the  thrill  of 
the  event ;  and,  in  a  few  minutes  the  chickens  began 
to  run  for  their  lives,  the  turkeys  yelped  and  gob- 
bled, the  ducks  quacked,  the  guineas  pot-racked, 
the  geese  hissed,  and  the  peacocks  flew  upon  the 
fence  and  screamed. 

Methodist  preachers  from  time  immemorial  have 
been  called  chicken-eaters,  and  many  are  the  stories 
that  have  been  told  at  their  expense  about  their 
proverbial  fondness  for  them.  I  suppose  all  the 
readers  of  this  paper  have  heard  how,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  the  fowls  have  taken  to  the  woods. 
The  old  guardian  rooster  would  fly  upon  the  Avood- 
pile  and  crow  out :  "The  preacher's  here  to-d-a-a-y !" 
— and  another  down  in  the  lot  would  floj)  his  wings 
and  ask:  "How  long's  he  gAvine  to  s-t-a-y?" — and 
one  nearer  the  kitchen  would  say :  "We'd  better  get 
a-w-a-a-y !"     Whereupon  the  guineas  would  cry  out : 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  261 

^'Make  tracks!  make  tracks!  make  tracks!'' — and 
tbe  old  muscovey  would  ask:  ^^Where  you  gwine?'' 
— aud  the  old  rooster  would  answer :  ^'In  the  woods 
to  s-t-a-a-y!'' 

Yes,  the  coming  of  the  circuit  rider  was  a  big 
e^  ent,  in  a  country  home,  sixty  years  ago,  and  chick- 
ens had  to  be  sacrificed  upon  the  altar  of  our  high 
esteem  for  the  man  of  God,  who  generally  came 
hungry  and  ate  hearty.  I  expect,  come  to  think  of 
it,  that  the  children  started  the  report  about  the 
l»reachers'  loving  chickens  so  well.  The  children, 
in  my  boyhood  days,  had  to  wait  until  the  grown 
p(^ople  ate,  and  it  not  unfrequently  happened  that, 
after  the  preacher  left  the  table,  chicken  was  scarce, 
which  fact  would  bring  forth  the  remark,  from  one 
of  the  brats :  "Dey  ain't  no  chicken  here,  hardly." 
Thereupon  the  biggest  boy,  in  a  sort  of  spiteful  way, 
would  say :  "It's  a  Avonder  he  didn't  eat  the  feet  and 
sop  out  the  dish.  I  do  believe  preachers  love  chicken 
better 'n  they  do  preaching."  "You  ought  not  to 
say  a  thing  like  that,  my  son,  about  the  preachers," 
the  mother  w^ould  say.  "It's  very  naughty."  "I 
want  the  gizzard,"  said  the  little  girl.  "The  giz- 
zard's not  here,  daughter,"  answered  the  mother. 
"I  want  the  liver,"  piped  out  the  baby  boy.  "I 
believe  the  liver  is  gone,  but  here's  a  drum-stick  for 
mamma's  little  boy."  The  mother  speedily  helped 
all  the  hungrj^  children,  dextrously  dividing  the 
remnants  and  giving  to  each  little  one  what  she 
said  was  "the  very  nicest  and  sweetest  part  of  the 
chicken."  But  the  children  talked  it  all  over 
when  they  got  out  to  play,  and  their  conclusion  was, 
"Preachers  can  eat  more  chicken  than  other  folks" ; 
and,  as  I  have  already  intimated,  it  may  be  that  the 
children's  observations,  and  especially  their  experi- 
ence in  gnawing  the  bones  the  preachers  left,  started 
the  report  that  Methodist  preachers  "are  mighty 
fond  of  chicken."     At  any  rate,  the  report  is  out. 


262  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

and  if,  when  the  preacher  comes,  a  chicken  can  be 
had,  the  good  sister  will  wring  his  neck,  sure,  and 
bake,  stew  or  fry  it  for  the  occasion. 

Bishop  Haygood  told  this  chicken  story,  in  which 
he  figured,  before  he  became  a  bishop.  He  stopped 
on  one  occasion  at  the  humble  home  of  a  widoAV  who 
liyed  on  the  roadside,  thinking  that  he'd  rest  and 
take  dinner  with  her,  as  she  had  often  requested 
him  to  do  some  time  when  passing.  There  was  a 
fine  shade  tree  in  the  yard,  and,  after  awhile,  he 
moved  out  under  it,  at  the  widow's  suggestion,  the 
widow's  little  son  going  with  him.  When  the  bishop 
was  not  talking  with  the  little  boy  he  would  play 
around  under  the  tree,  and,  ever  and  anon,  go  into 
the  house  to  see  his  mother,  and  how  the  dinner  was 
coming  on.  After  one  of  those  visits  to  the  house 
the  bishop  noticed  that  the  little  boy  wore  a  very 
troubled  look  on  his  face  and  did  not  seem  to  be 
quite  so  friendly  as  at  first,  but  he  concluded  that 
a  mother's  scolding  had  produced  the  change  of 
countenance  and  bearing.  Finally  the  dinner  was 
done,  and  the  widow,  with  the  aid  of  her  little  boy, 
brought  a  table  out  under  the  shade  tree,  and  there 
the  dinner  was  served,  and  sure  enough  there  was 
a  chicken,  a  nicely  baked  hen,  with  plenty  of  dress- 
ing and  gravy  and  other  good  things  to  match.  The 
little  boy  made  his  dinner  of  the  dressing,  gravy 
and  other  things;  he  would  eat  no  chicken;  but  he 
gazed  at  the  dish  on  which  it  was  served  with  al- 
most tearful  eyes.  Dinner  over,  the  table  was  re- 
moved, when  the  widow  and  her  little  boy  took 
seats  under  the  tree  to  hear  the  preacher  talk. 
While  sitting  there  a  dozen  little  chickens,  without 
any  mother,  came  under  the  tree  j)icking  up  the 
crumbs,  and  when  they  got  near  where  the  little 
boy  sat,  he  could  stand  it  no  longer,  but  with  tears 
in  his  voice  as  well  as  in  his  eyes,  he  said :  ^'You 
needn't  come  around  me  crying;   there's  the  man 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  263 

that  eat  vonr  mammy,"  pointing  to  the  preacher. 
Then  the  truth  flashed  upon  the  Bishop's  mind  that, 
to  give  the  preacher  the  proverbial  chicken,  the 
widow  had  bereaved  a  dozen  little  chicks  and  al- 
most broken  her  little  boy's  heart. 

There's  an  old  story  that  has  never  been  vouched 
for  to  the  effect  that  a  Methodist  preacher  wore  out 
his  teeth  eating  chickens,  and,  in  course  of  time, 
had  false  teeth  put  in,  and  the  new  teeth,  like  the 
old  ones,  soon  became  fond  of  chewing  chicken 
bones.  On  one  occasion  the  said  Methodist  preacher 
was  going  over  to  take  supper  with  a  sister  whose 
spring  chickens  were  just  right  for  frying.  He  had 
to  cross  a  creek  on  a  foot-log,  and,  when  about  mid- 
way, he  coughed  his  teeth  out  and  they  fell  in  the 
creek,  sinking  to  the  bottom.  The  water  was  deep 
and  a  little  muddy,  so  to  get  them  out,  without  going 
in  and  dragging  for  them,  was  impossible.  He 
went  on,  however,  and  reported  his  misfortune  to 
the  lady  with  whom  he  was  to  eat  fried  chicken, 
saying:  "I'm  afraid,  sister,  I  won't  enjoy  my  sup- 
per, as  I  have  no  teeth  to  chew  with."  A  son,  stand- 
ing by,  said:  '^Mister,  I  can  get  your  teeth."  "I 
wish  you  would,"  said  the  preacher,  "for  I  do  hate  to 
miss  your  mother's  nice  fried  chicken."  The  boy 
hurried  off,  but  soon  returned  and  surprised  the 
preacher  by  saving:  "Mister,  here's  your  teeth!" 
In  amazement  the  preacher  asked:  "How  did  you 
get  them,  my  son?"  "I  baited  a  hook  with  a  leg 
of  the  fried  chicken,  and  as  soon  as  the  hook  touched 
the  bottom  the  teeth  bit."  I  say  this  story  has 
never  been  vouched  for ;  but,  if  true,  it  proves  that 
the  new  teeth  had  learned  to  love  chicken  quite  as 
as  well  as  the  old  ones  ever  did. 

I  once  heard  of  a  preacher  who  had  a  Avay  of  for- 
aging that  was  a  little  peculiar,  but  it  generally 
succeeded.  He  worked  it  this  way:  After  asking 
a  blessing  he  would  kinder  clioke  up  as  if  about  to 


264  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

cry,  when  lie  looked  across  the  table  and  saw  ham 
and  eggs,  fried  chicken,  biscuit,  muffins  or  waffles; 
and  taking  out  his  handkerchief  he'd  wipe  his  eyes 
and  put  on  an  air  of  great  distress.  Of  course  his 
conduct  was  noticed  and  simultaneously  the  host 
and  hostess  would  ask:  ''What's  the  matter.  Bro- 
ther B.?"  Feigning  some  well-deyeloped  sighs,  he 
would  ansAyer:  "I  don't  feel  like  I  ought  to  eat  a 
mouthful  of  your  nice  breakfast,  when  I  know  my 
poor  wife  hasn't  a  thing  for  her  breakfast  but  a  lit- 
tle fried  fat  bacon  and  some  corn-bread."  Of  course 
the  pitiful  story  had  its  effect,  and  husband  and 
wife,  in  the  same  Ayords  and  at  the  same  time,  as- 
sured him  that  his  wife  should  haye  a  good  break- 
fast the  next  morning,  and  begged  him  to  eat,  which 
he  did  mincingly  and  sobbingiy  at  first;  but,  upon 
being  again  assured  that  his  wife  should  be  remem- 
bered, he  finally  oyercame  his  deep  emotion  and 
proceeded  regularly  to  business.  When  leaying,  a 
couple  of  fine  hams,  a  half  dozen  fat  pullets,  a 
pound  of  butter,  and  a  quarter  sack  of  flour  were 
packed  into  his  big-booted  buggy,  and  Brother  B. 
Ayent  on  his  way  rejoicing.  It  Ayas  said  of  him  that 
ho  generally  spent  his  Sunday  nights  Ayhere  his  sobs 
and  sighs  Ayould  pay  best,  and  that  he  ncA^er  failed 
to  haye  his  buggy  full  when  he  droye  into  town.  I 
knew  the  brother,  and  might  giye  his  name ;  but  the 
story  is  just  as  good  AAithout  doing  so;  and  besides, 
he  is  dead  and  is  out  of  the  foraging  business. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  265 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

First  Legislature  Under  an  Oak — About  Dogs  and 
Other  Dogs. 

In  ^'Grandfather's  Tales"  Colonel  Creecy  tells  us, 
on  the  authority  of  Gen.  Duncan  McDonald,  of 
Edenton,  that  the  first  General  Assembly  of  North 
Carolina  was  held  under  a  large  oak  in  Pasquotank 
county,  and  that  one  of  the  rules  governing  that 
body  was  that  the  members  should  wear  shoes,  dur- 
ing the  sessions  thereof,  and  that  they  should  not 
tlirow  their  chicken  and  other  bones  under  the 
tree. 

We  can  not  see  for  the  life  of  us  why  that  Assem- 
bly required  its  members  to  put  on  shoes,  while  in 
session,  unless  it  was  to  impress  the  common  peo- 
ple with  the  dignity  of  that  body;  but,  it  is  easy 
to  understand  why  chicken  bones  were  not  allowed 
to  be  thrown  down  under  the  oak.  It  was  doubt- 
less to  keep  the  dogs  from  prowling  around  after 
those  bones,  and  fighting  over  them,  while  the  As- 
sembly was  engaged  in  legislative  work;  and,  we 
are  bound  to  admit  that  the  members  of  that  Assem- 
bly were  wise  in  their  day  and  generation,  for  they 
knew  that  dogs  were  dogs,  and  that  dogs  by  instinct, 
habit  and  common  deportment  were  not  fit  to  be 
allowed  in  public  meetings.  Hence,  when  the  leg- 
islators ate  their  lunches,  of  chickens,  backbones 
and  hog  jowls,  they  were  required  by  law  to  throw 
the  bones  outside  the  legislative  circle  covered  by 
the  big  oak.  Supposing  tha^t  each  member  had  a 
dog,  we  can  imagine  the  scene  around,  when  the 
bones  were  thrown  out;  the  many  fights  which  oc- 
curred among  the  dogs,  (for  dogs,  like  men,  will 
fight  over  bones,)  and  the  much  bad  feeling  engen- 
dered when  a  member  with  shoes  on  kicked  another 
member's  dog. 


266  ^YH1TAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

Some  people  have  a  way  of  carrying  dogs  to 
cliureli;  and  yet  it  is  very  well  known  that  dogs 
have  not  improved  in  manners  since  the  days  of 
old  Jezebel.  Some  of  the  most  annoying  as  well  as 
some  of  the  most  ludicrous  scenes,  in  churches, 
have  been  occasioned  by  doo's.  In  my  youns:  days 
I  used  to  attend  preaching  at  old  Pleasant  Springs, 
about  eight  miles  south  of  Raleigh.  The  Chris- 
tian denomination  worshipped  there,  and  Key.  An- 
thony Francks  Ayas  the  pastor.  The  Sunday  of 
which  I  am  writing  was  the  communion  occasion, 
and  the  basket  which  contained  the  bread  and  wine, 
sat  on  the  floor  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  While  Mr. 
Francks  was  preaching,  the  children  oyer  on  the 
mother's  side  of  the  church  were  eating  biscuits, 
and  dropping  the  crumbs;  and  about  a  half  dozen 
dogs  of  various  sizes,  colors  and  classes,  were  push- 
ing and  crawling  under  benches  and  the  women's 
dresses,  trying  to  get  the  crumbs,  and  the  whole  bis- 
cuits as  well,  that  occasionally  were  dropped  by 
fidgety  children.  I  noticed  one  dog,  specially,  that 
seemed  to  be  not  only  very  active  in  crumb  hunting, 
but  had  a  ferocious  air  about  him,  and  would  growl 
at  the  children  now  and  then.  At  length  he  found 
the  basket,  Avhich  contained  the  sacramental  bread, 
and  into  it  his  nose  went;  and,  but  for  the  timely 
interference  of  a  member,  who  sat  near  by,  he  soon 
would  have  devoured  it.  The  sermon  ended,  the 
communion  followed,  the  white  members  coming 
first.  Then  came  the  colored  people,  and  among 
them  old  ^^Aunt  Prissy  Banks,"  who  thought  sliout- 
ing  was  always  in  order  when  people  took  the  com- 
munion, and  slie  had  as  much  riglit  as  anybody;  so 
she  shouted;  but,  no  sooner  did  she  break  out  than 
did  that  dog,  with  a  ferocious  look,  begin  to  bark. 
At  first  she  did  not  seem  to  notice  him;  but,  she 
soon  discovered  that  he  was  barking  at  her,  for, 
turn  which  wa}^  she  might,  he  was  in  her  front 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


267 


Negro  Shouting.— Dog  barking.    "Glory  to  God— g'way  from  here!" 


268  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

barking  as  if  he  had  treed  a  coon.  She  quieted 
down  long  enough  to  leave  the  house;  but,  as  soon 
as  she  touched  the  ground,  and  thinking  the  dog 
was  still  in  the  church,  she  began  to  shout  again. 
In  a  moment  the  dog  was  there,  and,  if  possible, 
barking  more  fiercely  than  he  did  in  the  house. 
For  fully  five  minutes  it  was  shouting  and  barking, 
and  barking  and  shouting.  Aunt  Prissy  would  say : 
^'Glory  to  God,  go  way  from  here !"  ^^Glory  to  God, 
go  Avay  from  here !''  But  the  dog  wouldn't  go.  He 
continued  to  bark  until  some  of  the  colored  sisters 
told  Aunt  Prissy  she'd  better  stop,  and  she  did, 
saying  by  the  way  of  a  wind-up :  "Thank  the  Lord, 
dey  ain't  got  no  dorgs  in  heaven;  dey  all  goes  to 
the  t other  place,  and  I  wish  dat  dorg  was  dar  rite 
now." 

As  I  am  about  it,  I  will  give  the  reader  some  other 
instances  of  the  bad  behaviour  of  dogs,  as  well  as 
two  or  three  of  their  good  behaviour;  for,  be  it 
known  and  remembered  that  dogs  are  not  all  alike, 
any  more  than  folks ;  therefore  they  don't  all  behave 
well  in  church.  Some  folks  behave  and  some  do 
not.     Just  so  with  dogs. 

Rev.  William  I.  Langdon  was  preaching  at  the 
Methodist  church,  on  Federal  Point,  about  1850, 
when  a  bench-legged  fice,  the  property  of  one  of  the 
members  of  that  church,  made  himself  very  conspic- 
uous. He  would  run  to  the  door  and  bark,  then 
he'd  run  to  his  master,  and  then  go  'round  among 
the  boys  who  would  pet  him,  and  in  various  and 
numerous  ways  he  managed  to  disturb  the  preacher, 
wliile  he  amused  the  children.  At  last  he  went  to 
the  pulpit,  hopped  up  on  the  bench  and  began  to 
lap  water  out  of  the  preacher's  pitcher.  The 
preacher  took  in  the  situation,  and  thinking  he  had 
a  right  to  the  pulpit,  and  that  the  dog  Avas  an  in- 
truder, he  kicked  him  out.  He  went  out  howling, 
and  the  master,  and  all  the  family,  to  whom  the 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  269 

dog  belonged,  went  out  with  him;  and  such  was  the 
disturbance  outside,  the  preacher  had  to  stop;  and 
the  church  came  nigh  being  broke  up.  The  people 
were  divided  upon  the  matter.  Some  of  them  said 
the  ijreacher  was  not  to  blame;  that  the  dog  had 
no  business  in  the  pulpit  drinking  out  of  the  preach- 
er's pitcher;  while  others  thought  that  dogs  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  do  as,  and  go  where,  they  pleased, 
so  they  did  not  bite  people.  It  took  the  church  a 
long  time  to  recover  from  that  dog  affair. 

Away  back  in  the  forties  there  was  a  church,  in 
Chatham  county,  which  had  been  so  rent  by  dissen- 
sions among  its  members,  as  to  be  left  off  the  cir- 
cuit, consequently  it  had  no  preaching.  A  brother 
Postell,  I  think  it  was,  then  living  in  Pittsboro, 
concluded,  in  the  early  summer,  that  he  would  go 
out  and  preach  to  those  people  and  try  to  harmonize 
the  discordant  elements.  He  took  brother  Hanks, 
an  old-time  Sankey,  with  him  to  lead  the  singing; 
and  Avent  prepared  to  say  a  great  many  things  about 
brotherly  love  and  especially  loving  thy  neighbor; 
taking  for  his  text,  ^^Who  is  my  neighbor?''  Three 
things  happened  that  tended  to  break  the  force  of 
his  very  appropriate  sermon.  In  the  first  place, 
just  as  he  commenced,  he  happened  to  look  out,  and 
he  saw  that  a  yearling  had  found  his  saddle  and  was 
chewing  the  girth,  as  he  had  taken  it  off  his  horse 
and  hung  it  on  a  low  limb,  to  let  his  horse  cool  off. 
It  was  a  borrowed  saddle,  and  he  had  to  hurry  out 
after  it.  He  returned  and  was  getting  fairly  under 
way  again  when  there  was  a  general  breaking  loose 
of  horses,  caused  by  one  horse  pawing  up  a  yellow 
jackets'  nest,  and  he,  breaking  loose,  covered  with 
yellow  jackets,  and  running  among  the  other  horses 
scattering  the  stingers  as  he  went,  caused  nearly 
every  horse,  the  preacher's  with  the  rest,  to  break 
loose,  and  such  running  and  kicking  were  never 
before  witnessed  in  Chatham  county.     After  a  long 


270  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

wliile  the  horses  were  caught  and  order  restored. 
The  preacher  said  on  resuming :  ^'Brethren,  I  came 
out  here  to  preach,  and  although  it  does  look  like 
the  devil  is  against  me,  I  am  determined  to  finish 
up  before  I  quit."  And  for  awhile  he  w^ent  on  as 
if  he  would  go  through  ^sure  enough;  but  a  great 
big  dog  came  to  the  door,  and,  planting  his  fore  feet 
on  the  top  step,  growled  as  he  saw  another  big  dog 
lying  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  That  dog  raised  up 
on  his  fore  feet  and  growled  back.  The  dog  outside 
came  in  and  growled  again.  The  pulpit  dog  got 
up  on  all  his  feet  and  growled  back.  It  was  not  a 
moment  before  they  literally  took  the  church.  Men, 
women  and  children  went  through  the  windows  as 
if  the  house  had  been  on  fire;  and  not  until  some- 
body threw  a  bucket  of  water  on  them  did  they 
stop  fighting.  No,  I  don't  blame  the  first  North 
Carolina  Assembly  for  making  a  law  against  throw- 
ing chicken  and  other  bones  down  under  their  oak. 
Speaking  of  dogs,  I  will  say  what  has  been  on  my 
mind  for  a  long  time,  and  it  is  this:  From  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  I  am  sorry  for  a  woman  who  has 
to  lead,  or  be  led  about  by  a  pug  dog.  When  I  see 
a  woman  and  a  pug  dog  hitched  together,  it  raises 
the  question  in  my  mind  whether  the  woman  or  the 
I3ug  is  honored  b^-  the  association.  I  sincerely  hope 
that  the  reader  will  not  conclude  I  am  opposed  to 
dogs,  or  that  I  do  not  appreciate  a  dog  that  knows 
his  place  and  learns  to  do  and  be  what  a  dog  ought 
to  do  and  be.  Thus  far,  in  this  article  I  haye  inti- 
mated a  dislike  to  only  two  classes  of  dogs,  the  dogs 
that  go  to  church  and  misbehave,  and  the  pugs  that 
lead  women  around.  Against  the  latter  class  I 
ought  not  to  be  too  harsh,  as,  after  all,  the  women 
and  not  tlie  dogs  are  to  blame.  And  I  have  to  ad- 
mit, also,  that  all  church-going  dogs  do  not  misbe- 
have, as  the  following  story,  which  I  heard  a  Metho- 
dist preacher  tell,  mil  demonstrate. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  271 

In  a  certain  town,  a  preacher  said,  there  was  a 
dog  that  for  several  years  went  regularly,  with  the 
children  of  a  Presbyterian  family,  to  Sunday  school ; 
would  go  into  the  church,  quietly  and  orderly,  take 
his  place  under  the  pew  on  which  the  home  children 
sat,  and  keep  perfectly  quiet  until  the  doxology  was 
being  sung,  when  he  Avould  come  out  and  stand  in 
the  aisle  to  be  ready  to  march  out  with  the  children 
AA'hen  school  closed.  His  good  behaviour  must,  of 
course,  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
Presbyterian  dog.  He  not  only  went  to  the  Sun- 
day school,  but  was  a  regular  attendant  on  church 
services,  and  went,  whether  any  of  the  family  did 
or  not,  always  occupying  the  same  place,  and  always 
remaining  until  the  doxology  was  sung.  But  a 
strange  thing  happened.  On  a  certain  occasion  a 
Methodist  bishop  w^ent  to  that  toAvn  and  preached 
in  the  Methodist  church,  and  the  Presbyterian 
family  who  owned  the  dog  went  to  the  Methodist 
church  to  hear  the  Bishop,  and  so  did  the  dog.  He 
followed  his  master  into  the  church  and  hid  him- 
self under  the  seat  where  he  could  hear  the  whole 
of  the  service,  especially  the  bishop's  sermon.  As, 
on  other  occasions,  he  stood  up  during  the  doxology 
and  went  quietly  out,  and  to  his  home  after  the 
benediction.  From  that  day  he  quit  going  to  the 
Presbyterian  church,  but  became  a  regular  attend- 
ant at  the  Methodist  church.  The  preaclier  who 
told  this  story  was  undecided  in  his  mind  what  it 
was  that  caused  the  dog  to  leave  the  Presbyterian 
and  join  the  Methodist  church;  but  supposed  he 
fell  in  love  with  the  Methodist  doctrine,  that  being 
the  first  time  he  had  ever  heard  a  Methodist  preacli. 
I  don't  vouch  for  this  story  if  a  Methodist  preacher 
did  tell  it,  but  must  say,  that  was  a  very  remarkable 
dog. 

Now,  here  is  a  story  of  a  dog  that  was  not  only 
well-behaved,  but  said  his  prayers,  which  is  more 


272 

than  some  people  do,  who  think  they  are  better  than 
dogs;  besides,  he  had  sense  enough  and  honesty 
enough  to  deal  justly  between  man  and  man.  He 
was  a  good  dog  and,  no  doubt,  behaved  in  church. 

Every  preacher  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference 
used  to  know  Kev.  Moses  J.  Hunt,  and  in  Warren, 
Granville,  Franklin,  Wake  and  Nash  wherein  his 
ministerial  labors  were  more  abundant,  his  name 
Avas  a  household  word.  He  was  an  old-time  revi- 
valist, and  never  was  more  in  his  element  than  vrhen 
holding  a  meeting,  and  no  man  could  beat  him  sing- 
ing ^'The  Old  Ship  of  Zion."  Thousands  of  souls 
were  converted  under  his  ministry,  and  wherever  he 
has  labored  the  good  people  love  his  memory.  In 
short,  Moses  J.  Hunt  was  a  good  man.  He  was 
also  a  good  hunter,  as  Avell  as  fond  of  fishing.  He 
had  a  bird  dog  that  went  with  him,  stayed  by  him, 
and  learned  of  him,  and  in  many  ways  manifested 
more  than  ordinary  dog  intelligence.  On  one  occa- 
sion Brother  Hunt  and  Brother  Pernell,  a  Baptist 
preacher,  went  fishing  together.  Brother  Hunt's 
dog  following.  They  found  a  hole  in  the  creek 
where  the  fish  bit  rapidly,  and  for  some  time  they 
caught  and  threw  the  fish  behind,  almost  as  fast 
as  they  could  take  them  from  their  hooks.  After 
awhile  they  concluded  to  string  their  fish,  when  lo, 
on  turning  about,  they  saw  not  a  single  one.  They 
vrere  astonished,  and  could  not  imagine  how  all 
their  fish  had  so  mysteriously  disappeared.  Brother 
Hunt  seeing  his  dog  some  twentj^-five  yards  away 
sitting  on  his  haunches,  asked:  "Ponto,  where  are 
our  fish?"  Ponto  cut  his  eyes  right  and  left  and 
wagged  his  tail,  as  much  as  to  say :  ^^Here  they  are." 
They  went  to  Ponto  and  there  lay  two  piles  of  fisli ; 
the  Hunt  catching  in  one  pile,  and  the  Pernell 
catcliing  in  another  pile,  while  Ponto  stood  between. 
That's  the  way  I  heard  the  story  coming  from  two 
preachers.     I  did  hear  that  Ponto  learned  to  imi- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  273 

tate  his  master  in  saying  his  prayers — that,  before 
he  laid  down  he  would  put  his  fore-feet  upon  a  chair, 
drop  his  head  down,  piously  close  his  eyes  and  re- 
main in  that  position  about  as  long  as  he  had  seen 
his  master  pray.  I  tell  that  as  a  hearsay,  not  vouch- 
ing for  the  truth  of  it.  But,  here  is  a  dog  story  I 
clipped  from  a  newspaper,  and  give  it  just  as  I 
clipped  it: 

"Speaking  of  dogs,"  said  Eev.  Dr.  J.  E.  Hower- 
ton,  "I  knew  a  Russian  dentist  out  in  Little  Rock, 
Ark.,  and  he  had  a  dog  that  was  a  dog.  Whenever 
that  dentist  washed  to  go  hunting  he'd  say  to  his 
dog :  ^Go  over  across  the  river  and  find  some  birds 
for  me.'  And  that  dog  would  go  dowm  to  the  river. 
If  he  couldn't  get  across  on  a  boat  he'd  swim  over. 
He  would  find  about  five  covies  of  partridges  in  the 
morning,  and  when  his  master  came  over  in  the 
evening  he  would  be  at  the  landing  waiting  for  him, 
ready  to  take  him  to  the  birds." 

Of  course  that  Arkansas  story  is  not  equal  to  the 
Hunt  story,  but  it  helps  us  to  ease  down  on  the  dog 
question.  If  the  reader  has  enjoyed  the  story,  he 
must  thank  Colonel  Creecy,  the  writer  of  "Grandfa- 
ther's Tales" ;  if  he  has  not  enjoyed  it,  let  him  write 
a  dog  story  of  his  own. 


18 


274  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Spoiling  Children — Father  and  Son  meet  at  a  Cir- 
cus— A  Correction — Teaching  School — Killing 
a  Deer — Good  People. 

It  doesn't  take  long  to  spoil  a  child,  but,  it  takes 
a  long  time  to  get  the  meanness  out  of  one  after  it 
has  been  spoiled.  Meanness  is  like  wire-grass,  it 
will  keep  on  growing  after  you  think  it  has  been 
killed  out.  It's  best  not  to  let  it  become  rooted  in 
a  child  if  it  can  be  helped.  God's  plan  was,  and  is, 
that  fathers  and  mothers  should  control  their  chil- 
dren. When  about  to  start  a  church  in  the  world, 
God  selected  Abraham  to  be  the  father  of  that 
church,  giving  as  a  reason  for  it :  "I  know  him, 
that  he  will  command  his  children  and  his  household 
after  him,  and  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord, 
to  do  justice  and  judgment."  And  when  He  gave 
the  law  at  Sinai,  God  said :  "Hear,  O  Israel ;  the 
Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord :  And  thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  might:  And  these  words, 
which  I  command  thee  this  day  shall  be  in  thine 
heart :  And  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  to  thy 
children.  *  *  *  That  the  generation  to  come  might 
know  them,  even  the  children  which  shall  be  born, 
who  should  arise  and  declare  them  to  their  children. 
*  *  *  That  they  might  set  their  hope  in  God." 

How  natural  is  God's  plan,  and  how  successfully 
it  would  work  if  man  Avould  only  let  God  have  his 
way — if  parents  would  follow  God's  teachings  and 
keep  His  commandments  with  regard  to  the  train- 
ing of  children. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  God,  who  made  us, 
knows  what  is  best  for  us ;  and  it  must  be  admitted 
also  that  Infinite  Wisdom  would  not  command  us  to 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  275 

do  an  unnecessary  thing;  hence,  the  conclusion  to 
which  we  come  is,  that,  parents  who  do  not  train 
their  children  as  God  clearly  teaches  they  should 
do,  are  unjust  to  those  children,  and  are,  at  the 
same  time,  negligently  disobedient. 

The  reader  must  not  conclude  that  I  am  an  advo- 
cate of  harsh  treatment ;  on  the  contrary,  I  do  not 
believe  in  it.  Training  of  children  is  a  very  differ- 
ent thing  from  driving  them.  Driving  is  a  species 
of  cruelty,  and  God  never  intended  for  parents  to 
be  cruel  to  their  offspring.  Training  is  setting  a 
proper  example.  A  man  who  would  not  have  his 
son  to  swear,  drink  liquor,  play  cards,  tell  lies,  or 
do  any  other  bad  thing,  should  not  do  any  bad 
thing  himself.  He  must  not  expect  the  boy  to  be 
better  than  he  is.  The  stream  can  not  run  up  liill. 
Children  are  imitative;  and  who  is  greater  in  the 
estimation  of  a  boy  than  father?  and  how  natural 
for  the  boy  to  think  that  what  father  does  is  right ! 
1  have  known  parents  who  thought  they  had  done 
all  they  were  expected  to  do  when  they  had  com- 
ujanded  their  children  to  do  or  not  to  do  anything; 
and  then  go  right  off  and  do  the  thing  they  forbade, 
or  had  said  it  was  wrong  to  do.  A  child  reasons 
well  when  he  says  to  himself,  the  thing  forbidden 
is  not  so  bad  after  all,  or  father  and  mother  would 
not  do  it ;  but,  if  it  is  bad,  then  father  and  mother, 
who  pretend  like  they  are  so  good,  are  surely  hypo- 
crites, or  liars — one  or  the  other,  or  both. 

A  circus  came  to  town,  once  upon  a  time,  and  all 
the  children  witnessed  the  parade.  A  merchant, 
who,  by  the  way,  was  a  member  of  the  church,  went 
Lome  to  dinner  soon  after  the  parade  was  over.  His 
little  son  met  him  at  the  gate  and  begged  to  be 
ij]  lowed  to  go  to  the  circus  that  evening.  The  fa- 
ther pretended  to  be  shocked  to  think  that  his  boy 
should  wish  to  go  to  such  an  immoral  thing  as  a 
circus,  and  very  properly  vetoed  the  matter,  saying: 


276  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

"No,  my  son,  a  circus  is  not  a  fit  place  for  little 
boys  to  go;  and,  besides,  you  must  remember  your 
father  is  a  member  of  the  church.  What  would 
l>eople  think  and  say  if  they  were  to  see  a  church 
member's  son  in  such  a  wicked  place?" 

"But,  Pa,  Bill  Smith's  going,  and  his  father  is  a 
member  of  the  church,"  said  the  boy. 

"That  makes  no  difference,  my  son;  I  don't  want 
my  little  boy  to  go;  for  no  good  people  go  to  such 
places;  none  but  bad  people  go,  and  I  don't  want 
my  son  to  be  seen  among  bad  people.  And,  besides, 
I  don't  want  those  wicked  circus  people  to  get  any  of 
my  money." 

"I've  got  a  quarter,  Pa,  so  you  won't  have  to 
spend  any  of  your  money,"  said  the  persistent  boy. 

"If  you  had  a  dozen  quarters,  you  should  not  go, 
for,  I  tell  you  again,  the  circus  is  a  bad  iDlace,  and 
I  will  not  let  one  of  my  children  be  seen  there.  If 
one  were  to  go,  and  I  found  it  out,  I'd  whip  him." 

After  dinner  was  over,  that  father,  who  had 
taught  so  well,  by  precept,  left  home  to  return  to 
his  store;  but,  as  soon  as  he  got  out  of  sight  of  his 
boy,  by  turning  a  corner,  he  made  haste  and  went 
to  the  circus  himself.  And  the  little  boy,  thinking 
his  father  had  by  that  time  reached  his  store,  took 
his  quarter,  and,  as  fast  as  he  could  run,  went  to 
the  circus,  too.  In  he  went,  and  up  he  climbed  to 
a  seat;  and,  as  it  happened,  sat  down  right  by  the 
side  of  his  father ;  the  father  was  so  intently  gazing 
at  the  women  riding  around  the  ring  he  didn't  see 
his  son;  but  the  son  saw  him,  and  thinking  he  had 
better  arrange  matters  at  once,  slapped  his  father 
on  his  knee  and  said:  "Papa,  if  you  won't  whip 
me  for  coming  here,  I  won't  tell  mother  you  were 
here."  Of  course,  he  didn't  whip  him;  but,  that 
boy  knew,  right  there  and  then,  his  father  was  a 
liar  and  a  hypocrite;  and  didn't  he  have  the  dead- 
wood  on  him? 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  277 

By  the  way,  it  is  not  the  reading  of  books  that 
makes  infidels  of  the  children,  but  the  inconsisten- 
cies of  parents  and  church  members.  Children  dis- 
cover at  a  very  early  age  that  precept  and  example 
do  not  accord,  and,  they  not  only  lose  confidence 
in,  but  have  no  respect  for,  their  hypocritcal  pa- 
rents. When  that  comes  to  pass  a  child  has  no 
moorings — he's  adrift,  without  chart  or  compass. 
I  am  really  afraid  that  infidelity  is  on  the  in- 
crease in  the  world,  for  which  sad  condition  of 
things  parents  are  largely  responsible.  I  am  not 
preaching,  but,  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that 
more  preaching  along  this  line  would  do  good. 
Since  it  is  acknowledged  th?ct  consistency  is  a  jewel, 
it  would  be  the  part  of  Avisdom  for  all,  (parents 
especially),  to  be  consistent  in  their  everyday  lives 
so  that  when  the  Lord  comes  to  make  up  his  jewels, 
they,  as  well  as  their  children,  may  be  numbered 

with  the  elect. 

******* 

I  received  a  letter  the  other  day  from  Dr.  George 
A.  Graham,  of  Kaeford,  N.  C,  written  May  16th, 
which  I  am  sure  will  interest  the  reader,  as  it  refers 
to  some  things  of  which  I  wrote  two  weeks  ago, 
throwing  light  on  one  or  two  incidents.  I  hope  the 
Doctor  will  pardon  me  for  the  use  I  make  of  his 
letter,  since  it  corrects  a  mistake  I  made.  Here  is 
the  letter: 

"Dear  Sir: — I  have  read  and  enjoyed  your  arti- 
cles in  The  Neivs  and  Observer  for  some  time;  but 
your  article  in  yesterday's  paper,  ( May  15th ) ,  was 
especially  interesting  to  me.  My  father.  Dr.  Neill 
Graham,  was  living  in  Bladen  county  in  1865.  To 
escape  the  Yankees,  coming  from  Fort  Fisher  and 
Wilmington,  he  sent  his  family  to  his  sister's, 
Mrs.  Christopher  Monroe's,  in  Cumberland  county, 
twelve  miles  northwest  of  Fayetteville,  one  mile 
from    Manchester,    and    about  the    same    distance 


278  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

from  Monroe's  bridge,  on  Little  Kiver.  We  were 
entertained  by  Sherman's  army,  while  my  father, 
in  Bladen,  received  a  visit  from  those  Yankees 
from  Wilmington.  I  was  then  a  boy  thirteen 
years  old,  and  remember  distinctly  being  on  the 
fence,  at  my  uncle's  negro  quarters,  and  seeing 
those  captured  Yankees  and  wagons  as  they 
passed.  I  remember,  too,  how  my  mother  and  aunt 
enjoyed  the  real  ^store-bought'  coffee  given  them 
by  ^our  men'  from  those  wagons.  A  day  or  two 
after  those  i3risoners  were  carried  westward,  (by  my 
aunt's),  Wheeler's  men  returned  alone.  We  never 
knew  what  became  of  those  prisoners. 

"Doctor,  I  think,  perhaps,  you  are  in  error  as  to 
the  name  of  the  ^spanking  lady,'  though  my  surmise 
may  be  wrong. 

"One  mile  from  my  uncle's,  C.  Monroe's,  lived  his 
mother,  who,  at  that  time,  was  very  old,  feeble,  and 
not  exactly  of  sound  mind;  in  fact,  she  was  in  her 
dotage.  With  her  lived  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Mc- 
Dougald,  who  was  of  large  frame,  very  muscular, 
and  of  rather  masculine  appearance.  This  Mrs. 
McDougald,  I  knew,  had  a  ^scrap'  with  a  Yankee. 
She  had  an  adopted  daughter  and  son :  Miss  Mary 
Roberson  and  George  Roberson.  *  *  *  Old  Mrs. 
Monroe's  house  was  on  the  public  road,  twelve 
miles  from  Fayetteville.  It  was  a  two-story  house, 
piazza  above  and  below,  chimney  at  the  west  end, 
two  rooms  below  and  two  above,  and  two  shed 
rooms.  House  had  palings  to  front  and  sides.  Can 
you  recall  any  of  these  things?  If  not,  I  suppose  I 
am  wrong  in  thinking  it  was  Mrs.  McDougald  (Mrs. 
Anabella  McDougald)  who  ^spanked'  that  Yankee. 

"The  house  from  which  Kilpatrick  and  his  lady 
were  run,  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  N.  S.  Blue,  of  this 
place.  He  has  a  fine  farm  there,  and  it  is  known 
as  the  'Battlefield  Farm.'  Yankees  from  Southern 
Pines  frequently  drive  out  there  to  see  the  old  house 
and  secure  relics." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  279 

I  am  glad  that  Dr.  Graham  corrected  me  as  to 
the  name  of  the  lady  who  ^spanked'  that  Yankee.  I 
remember  distinctly,  now,  that  Mrs.  McDougald 
was  the  name.  I  met  George  Roberson  at  Man- 
chester some  years  after  the  occurrence,  and  we 
talked  the  incident  over,  and  forgetting  that  he  was 
an  adopted  son,  I  fell  into  the  mistake  that  she 
whom  he  called  mother  was  Mrs.  Roberson.  Yes,  I 
remember  the  house,  the  yard,  and  the  fences ;  and,  I 
remember  also,  the  bent-down  pine  sapling  and  the 
tuft  of  wire-grass  in  front  of  the  house,  under  which 
Mrs.  McDougald  buried  that  cheese  box  filled  with 
jeAvelry,  which  the  Yankees  did  not  find.  Thank 
you.  Doctor,  for  writing.  I  hope  others  will  follow 
your  example. 

While  my  mind  is  down  in  Cumberland,  I  guess 
I  had  just  as  well  speak  of  some  of  the  old-time 
memories  that  come  to  me  just  now.  And  to  begin, 
I  will  say  that  in  1852  I  taught  a  school  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Williams's,  on  lower  Little 
River.  I  had  never  killed  a  deer,  but,  very  much 
desired  to  have  it  to  say  that  I  had.  The  oppor- 
tunity came  at  length,  and,  sure  enough,  I  killed 
one.  Mr.  William  L.  Williams,  father  of  the  late 
Senator  Williams,  of  Cumberland,  was  my  em- 
ployer, and  had  the  right,  therefore,  to  dismiss  the 
school  whenever  he  pleased  to  do  it. 

One  day  as  he  rode  by  the  school-house,  he  hailed 
me,  and  said:  "Whitaker,  dismiss  the  school,  send 
the  children  home,  and  let's  go  deer  hunting."  Of 
course  I  did  as  he  told  me.  That  evening  we  went 
out  beyond  the  ^'Thompson  field,"  and  Mr.  Williams 
told  me  to  hitch  my  horse,  go  over  beyond  a  ravine, 
and  keep  a  sharp  lookout,  as  he  would  drive  a  deer 
to  me  in  less  than  five  minutes.  I  had  just  reached 
the  place  designated,  when  I  saw  a  deer  coming 
right  toward  me.  I  fired  as  soon  as  it  came  near 
enough,  and  at  the  crack  of  the  gun  it  fell,  turning 


280  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

a  complete  somersault ;  then,  rose  and  started  back 
in  the  direction  from  which  it  came.  The  charge  of 
the  second  barrel  was  more  effective,  and  the  deer 
lay  on  the  ground,  kicking.  There  was  a  negro  near 
by  dipping  turpentine,  who  ran  up  with  knife  in 
hand  to  cut  the  deer's  throat.  About  the  time  he 
thrust  in  the  knife,  I  saw  him  commence  slapping 
this  way  and  that,  and  start  to  run,  still  slapping. 
By  which  time  the  dogs  reached  the  deer,  but,  the 
next  moment  they  went  off  howling  and  snapping, 
rolling  over  and  whining.  In  the  midst  of  it  all 
Mr.  Williams  rode  up,  and,  stopping  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance, for  he  took  in  the  situation,  he  said  without 
adressing  anyone:  "That  beats  anything  I  ever 
saw.''  The  situation  was,  the  deer  had  fallen  near 
a  yellow-jacket's  nest,  and,  by  its  kicking,  had 
stirred  the  yellow-jackets  up  and  made  them  fight- 
ing mad.  After  awhile  they  got  quiet  and  the  deer 
was  taken  up,  carried  home  and  dressed.  I  was  a 
hero — had  killed  a  deer — shot  him  running,  at 
that. 

Some  of  the  neighbors  were  invited  to  dinner  the 
next  day,  and  the  venison  I  had  furnished  was  the 
special  dish  on  the  table.  Of  course,  I  expected  to 
be  complimented  and  congratulated  on  my  achieve- 
ment. I  sat  opposite  a  young  lady,  whose  mis- 
chievous glances  rather  disconcerted  me,  as  her 
every  look  and  smile  seemed  to  me  to  say :  "We've 
got  a  good  joke  on  you."  It  came  out  when  the 
venison  was  being  served.  It  was,  as  Mr.  Williams 
told  it  at  the  table,  the  deer  came  to  its  death  by 
the  stings  of  yellow-jackets;  that  I  shot  at  it  and 
scared  it,  making  it  stump  its  toe  and  fall.  Of 
course,  it  teased  me,  because  they  all  laughed,  and 
I  was  vexed  as  well  as  teased,  when  I  saw  the  ser- 
vants giggling.  It  was  only  a  good-natured  hunt- 
er's joke,  but  I  was  exceedingly  fresh,  and  totally 
unprepared  for  it.  I  killed  several  deer  after  that 
without  the  aid  of  yellow  jackets. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  281 

Mr.  Williams  had  a  grey  horse  that  he  had  used 
a  o-reat  deal  in  hunting.  He  would  go  at  full  speed 
wiieu  in  the  chase,  but  could  stop  so  suddenly 
Avhen  one  said  "whoa,"  that,  as  Mr.  Williams  said,  a 
fellow's  chew  of  tobacco  would  fly  out  of  his  mouth. 
One  day  we  were  out  hunting,  and  a  young  man 
was  riding  the  grey  horse.  Mr.  Williams  and  I 
were  sitting  on  the  roadside  when  we  saw  the  grey 
coming  at  full  speed,  the  young  man  leaning  for- 
ward as  if  to  help  him  run.  The  rider  did  not  see 
us,  and  had  well-nigh  passed  us,  when  Mr.  Williams, 
not  thinking  what  might  be  the  consequence,  said, 
"Whoa!"  The  horse  didn't  make  another  step — 
stopped  dead  still — but  the  young  fellow  went  over 
like  a  hoop ;  and,  had  not  the  sand  been  pretty  deep, 
he  might  have  received  some  serious  bruises.  As  it 
was,  he  got  up  in  a  bad  humor;  but,  didn't  exactly 
know  whether  to  blame  Mr.  Williams  for  saying 
"Whoa  I"  or  the  horse  for  "whoaing"  too  much.  That 
young  man  afterwards  became  a  distinguished 
teacher,  and  was  no  other  than  Prof.  H.  E.  Oolton. 
When  he  was  a  boy,  his  father,  old  Doctor  Oolton, 
was  the  pastor  of  Sardis  Presbyterian  church,  and, 
Henry  spent  much  of  his  time  in  that  neighborhood, 
but  rarely  ever  had  much  to  do  with  other  boys. 
He  loved  to  roam  the  fields  and  woods  and  hunt 
bird  eggs,  of  which  he  accumulated  a  vast  number ; 
and,  catch  bugs,  lizzards,  worms,  butterflies,  and 
any  and  everything  he  could  find.  In  short,  he  was 
a  natural-born  entomologist,  and,  never  seemed  hap- 
pier than  when  he  had  his  pockets  and  his  hat  full 
of  all  sorts  of  creeping  things. 

In  those  days  there  was  no  section  of  North  Caro- 
lina that  could  boast  of  a  better  population  than 
resided  on  lower  Little  River ;  all  well-to-do  people, 
and,  nearly  all  of  them,  related  to  each  other.  It 
was  a  delightful  section,  and,  for  a  year  or  two,  as 
a  teacher,  I  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  living  among 
them. 


282  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTEE  XXXYI. 

Conference  at  Goldsljoro — Drs.  Gloss  and  Burton — 
Bishop  Pierce — Bishop  Duncan  and  Br.  Hiden 
— Capt.  Pleasants — ^ome  Anecdotes. 

Where  are  they?  Forty-six  years  ago  the  North 
Carolina  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  met  in  Goldsboro  for  the  first  time ; 
Bishop  George  F.  Pierce,  of  Georgia,  presiding,  and 
Rev.  William  E.  Pell,  secretary.  At  that  time 
Goldsboro  was  a  mere  village,  compared  with  what 
it  is  now. 

The  Griswold  Hotel  occupied  the  same  corner 
where  the  Hotel  Kennon  now  stands;  the  Borden 
Hotel  was  on  the  corner  now  occupied  by  Miller's 
drug  store ;  and  in  the  middle  of  the  street  opposite 
the  Borden  House  was  the  railroad  shed  under 
which  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  trains  stopped. 
Under  that  shed  Bishop  Pierce  preached  on  Sun- 
day morning  during  the  Conference.  I  remember 
that  the  great  crowd  under  the  shed  had  to  be 
moved,  during  preaching,  to  let  the  train  pass; 
but  as  the  Bishop  was  suffering  with  vertigo,  and 
was  not  at  all  himself  in  the  beginning,  the  inter- 
ruption Avas  a  relief  to  him.  The  few  moments  of 
rest  he  gained  while  the  train  was  under  the  shed 
greatly  benefited  him,  as  was  clearly  shown  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  sermon,  which  was  declared 
to  be  a  most  eloquent  one.  By  the  way,  no  preacher 
has  arisen  in  the  South  who  was  the  superior  of 
Bishop  Pierce  as  a  pulpit  orator.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  most  captivating  manners,  and  represented 
that  old-time  class  of  public  speakers  noted  for 
their  ability  to  sway  multitudes.  He  was  eloquent 
in  thought  and  diction,  elegant  in  bearing  and  most 
charming  in  delivery.     No  one  would  grow  weary 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  283 

under  a  two-hours'  sermon,  for  he  was  never  dull; 
but,  bright,  pleasing,  strong,  and  eloquent  all  the 
time.  I  am  speaking  of  him  forty-six  years  ago. 
I  did  not  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  him  in  the 
latter  days  of  his  life,  when  the  fire  was  burning 
low,  and  strength  was  failing;  but  heard  from 
others  that  he  was  grand,  even  then. 

Again  I  ask.  Where  are  they?  All  those  men 
and  women  who  sat  under  that  railroad  shed  that 
Sunday  morning  in  December,  1857?  How  many 
are  there  still  living?  I  have  a  curiosity  to  know 
how  many  there  are  who  remember  that  Confer- 
ence, heard  the  Bishop's  sermon,  and  witnessed  the 
fight  that  took  place  between  Doctors  Gloss  and 
Burton.  I  don't  mean  a  fisticuff,  but  a  debate, 
which,  as  I  remember,  lasted  about  sixteen  hours, 
each  speaking  eight  hours.  That  controversy,  or 
quarrel,  as  it  certainly  was,  grew  out  of  the  Deems 
and  Smith  affair,  and  that  out  of  the  Christopher 
Duncan  letter.  I  do  not  remember  just  now  what 
the  issue  was;  but,  can  never  forget  the  scene  pre- 
sented in  the  Conference.  I  was  a  gallery  specta- 
tor, as  we  young  people  preferred  being  as  far  away 
from  the  scene  of  action  as  possible,  and  as  much 
to  ourselves  as  we  well  could;  so,  I  could  see  and 
hear  everything.  The  Bishop  sat  facing  us  in  the 
gallery,  as  well  as  the  congregation;  Dr.  Closs  was 
in  the  midst  of  his  speech.  Right  in  front  of  him 
sat  Dr.  Burton,  a  man  of  small  stature  but  a  giant 
in  intellect,  a  master  in  debate,  quick  and  sharp  in 
repartee,  and  as  fearless  as  a  lion.  There  he  sat 
like  an  old  soldier,  calm  and  cool,  under  the  heavy 
fire  from  Dr.  Closs's  battery.  Not  a  nerve  twitched, 
not  a  muscle  was  moved,  but  with  eyes  firmly  and 
fearlessly  fixed  on  the  adversary,  he  looked  the  per- 
sonification of  undaunted  heroism.  Closs  was  firing 
his  heaviest  guns,  and  shells  were  bursting  all 
around  Burton;  but,  he  said  not  a  word;  now  and 


284  whitaker's  reminiscences 


then  he  would  make  a  note,  and  resume  his  earnest 
gaze  into  the  eyes  of  his  adversary. 

To  us  young  people  in  the  gallery,  the  scene  was 
becoming  tiresome,  especially  to  those  of  us  who  sat 
near  to  some  pretty  girls,  and  were  longing  for  a 
chance  to  do  some  talking  ourselves.  We  couldn't 
help  whispering  a  little,  and  a  little  ripple  of  laugh- 
ter would  break  forth  now  and  then ;  not  enough  to 
disturb  the  speaker  or  the  audience;  but,  the  keen 
eye  of  the  Bishop  discovered  the  levity,  and  think- 
ing that  it  might  increase,  he  rapped  gently  on  his 
desk,  saying:  ''Will  Dr.  Oloss  suspend  for  a  mo- 
ment?" Then,  in  a  voice  as  gentle  and  sweet  as  a 
woman's,  he  requested  the  young  i)eople  in  the  gal- 
lery to  be  as  quiet  as  they  could  for  a  few  moments 
longer,  as  the  time  of  adjournment  was  nigh  at 
hand,  when  they  could  go  to  their  homes,  or  their 
stopping  places,  and  enjoy  themselves.  Dr.  Closs, 
putting  on  the  air  of  one  greatly  astonished,  turned 
about  and  looked  in  every  direction,  as  if  amazed  at 
the  idea  that  any  one  could  sit  within  the  sound  of 
his  voice  and  not  be  absorbed  in  him  and  his  speech. 
A  pin  could  have  been  heard  to  fall,  in  that  moment, 
for  everybody  was  expecting  to  hear  something 
witty  and  sharp.  It  came.  Twisting  his  mouth 
around  as  if  he  would  whisper  into  his  own  ear, 
looking  first  toward  the  gallery  as  if  to  say,  I  am 
talking  to  you;  then,  looking  upon  the  audience  as 
if  saying,  I  want  you  to  hear  this.  Then,  address- 
ing the  Bishop,  he  drawled  out :  "Really — Bishop — 
I  thought — I — was — making — a  speech — that  was 
— interesting — to  everybody."  (Here  he  hesitated, 
cut  his  eyes  around,  and  up  into  the  gallery  to  see 
that  all  were  attentive,  and  proceeded.)  "I — ap- 
prehend— that — the  fault — is  not — in  the — speaker 
— nor — in  the — speech; — but — because"  (pointing 
his  finger  at  Dr.  Burton)  ''the  subject — is — so — 
dry !" 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  285 

The  Conference  applauded,  the  gallery  Avent 
wild ;  the  Bishop  smiled,  but  rapped  for  order ;  but, 
amid  it  all,  Dr.  Burton  was  unmoved. 

I  dare  say  that  Drs.  Closs  and  Burton,  in  their 
prime,  could  not  have  been  surpassed  as  debaters, 
in  any  Conference.  Dr.  Burton  was  better  educa- 
ted and  was  more  polished ;  and,  withal,  he  had  the 
native  ability  to  measure  arms  with  a  giant  in  de- 
bate. Dr.  Closs  lacked  in  that  early  training  so 
requisite  to  the  making  of  a  well-rounded  charac- 
ter; but,  what  he  had,  he  had  acquired,  and  was 
conscious  of  his  strength,  and  knew  as  well  as  any 
one  how^  and  when  to  strike;  and,  when  he  did 
strike,  he  hurt.  What  he  lacked  in  polish,  he  more 
tlian  made  up  in  wit  and  sharp  repartee. 

At  that  Conference  there  w-ere  such  well-remem- 
bered preachers  as  Doub,  Deems,  Moran,  Craven, 
Carter,  Keed,  Nicholson,  Wyche,  Heflin,  Pell,  Burk- 
head,  Langdon,  Brent,  Maj^nard,  Norman,  Clegg, 
Moore,  Jones,  Blake,  Jordan,  Gray,  Floyd,  Gib- 
bons, Wilson,  Mangum,  Bobbitt,  Culbreth,  Moses, 
Phillips,  Andrews,  Farrar,  Hoyle,  and  others  I 
knew,  whose  names  do  not  now  occur  to  me.  The 
only  two  preachers,  who  were  there,  whose  names 
are  still  on  the  Conference  roll,  are  Marcus  C. 
Thomas  and  Alexander  D.  Betts.  All  the  others, 
so  far  as  I  know,  have  crossed  the  river ;  and  should 
we,  who  remain,  go  to  the  court-house  in  which  the 
Conference  was  held  in  1857,  and  call  the  roll  of  the 
Conference  and  spectators,  how  few  would  be  the 
responses !  The  house  was  packed  that  day ;  but,  I 
doubt  if  there  are  enough  living  to  fill  a  dozen 
pews. 

Bishop  Pierce  presided  over  seven  Conferences  in 
this  State:  at  Pittsboro,  1854;  Goldsboro,  1857; 
Greensboro,  1863;  Favetteville,  1866;  Greensboro, 
1870 ;  Charlotte,  1878  ;'Durham,  1881.  For  twenty- 
seven  years  his  name  was  a  household  w^ord  in  every 
Methodist  home. 


286  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  listening  to  two  very  fine 
sermons,  preached  by  Bishop  Duncan,  at  Louis- 
burg,  a  few  weeks  ago.  I  had  not  heard  him  before 
in  ten  years,  and  had  almost  forgotten  his  voice; 
but,  the  first  word  he  spoke  brought  to  memory 
many  things  I  had  heard  him  say.  It  is  a  strange 
thing,  yet  nevertheless  true,  that  we  may  almost 
forget  one,  but,  no  sooner  do  we  hear  his  voice,  than 
here  come  troops  of  recollections  that  w^ould  never 
have  been  resurrected  had  we  not  heard  that  voice 
again.  Bishop  Duncan  has  a  fine  voice,  and  knows 
well  how  to  command  it.  He  articulates  perfectly, 
so  that  every  word  he  utters  is  distinctly  heard. 
He  has  a  benevolent  face,  and  in  the  pulpit  he  is 
the  perfect  ideal  of  a  minister  of  Christ,  in  appear- 
ance. 

I  have  mentioned  his  name  for  the  purpose  of  say- 
ing, that  he  presided  over  a  Conference  in  Golds- 
boro  in  1892,  and,  an  incident,  that  I  shall  never 
forget,  occurred,  which  will  always  make  me  feel 
kindly  toward  him.  When  a  brother  minister 
was  required  to  stand  at  the  bar  of  the  Confer- 
ence and  to  be  reproved  for  what  the  committee 
of  trial  said  was  imprudent  conduct,  the  Conference 
and  spectators  held  their  breath  in  expectation  of 
some  severe  words  from  the  Bishop.  But  how  pleas- 
ant was  the  surprise  when  Bishop  Duncan,  address- 
ing him  as  a  brother,  said  in  a  tone  of  voice  so  in 
harmony  with  the  first  verse  of  the  sixth  chapter 
of  Galatians:  "Brother,  you  have  suffered  greatly. 
Let  this  be  a  lesson  to  you  to  be  more  prudent  in  the 
future.''  It  was  so  tenderly  and  so  feelingly  done, 
I  could  but  say  in  my  heart,  "How  noble!  how 
Christly !''  Some  mouthy  Bishops  ( if  there  be  such ) 
would  have  kept  him  standing  there  a  half  hour, 
repeating  i)latitudes  to  him,  quoting  Scriptures, 
and  heaving  deep-drawn  sighs.  Jesus  never  more 
plainly  showed  his  tender,  loving  heart  to  the  world 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  287 

ill  ail  Avlien  he  said:  "Neither  do  I  condemn  thee; 
go  and  sin  no  more." 

Some  people  are  so  pious  they  rear  away  back. 
It  takes  the  genuine  kind  of  religion  to  make  a  man 
walk  uprightly.  If  a  man  lean  at  all,  let  it  be  to- 
v/ard  mercy.  "Remembering  thyself,  lest  thou  also 
be  tempted,"  was  a  most  timely  admonition  of 
the  great  Apostle  to  the  Galatians.  "For  if  a  man 
thinketh  himself  to  be  something  when  he  is  noth- 
ing, he  deceiveth  himself."  Nothing  truer  than 
that. 

Bishop  Duncan  (he  was  not  then  a  bishop),  and 
Kev.  J.  0.  Hiden,  D.D.,  delivered  temperance  ad- 
dresses here  in  Raleigh  in  the  early  seventies,  and 
both  of  them  illustrated  their  speeches  with  fine 
anecdotes.  I  remember  those  anecdotes,  and 
thought  at  the  time  they  were  very  funny,  and 
aptly  applied.  Dr.  Hiden,  portraying  the  danger 
of  moderate  drinking,  told  about  a  college  mate 
who,  in  his  school  days,  kept  a  bottle  in  his  room, 
and,  occasionally,  he  would  drink  almost  to  intox- 
ication. "I  warned  him,  time  and  again,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "telling  him  each  time  of  the  danger  he  was 
in — how  a  habit  formed  would  grow  and  finally  be- 
come master  of  the  man,"  etc.  But,  he  scouted  the 
idea  of  becoming  a  drunkard,  and  gave  me  to  under- 
stand that  he  could  and  would  take  care  of  himself. 
After  graduation,  we  separated.  I  became  a  Bap- 
tist preacher  and  he  studied  law.  For  years  we  did 
not  meet;  but  I  had  heard  that  he  was  a  sot,  and 
hoped  that  I  might  never  see  him  in  a  drunken  con- 
dition. On  one  occasion  I  had  to  preach  at  a  coun- 
try church  in  the  community  near  where  my  old 
friend  was  raised,  but  I  had  no  idea  of  seeing  him; 
in  fact,  I  had  not  thought  of  him  for  many  a  day. 
The  weather  was  cold,  but  a  sheet-iron  stove  had 
been  made  red  hot,  and  the  church  was  warming  up, 
when  who  should  open  the  door  and  stagger  in  but 


288  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

my  old  college  mate.  There  was  a  yacant  seat 
close  to  the  hot  stove,  and  staggering  to  that,  he 
sat  down,  and,  dropping  his  head  doAvn  on  his 
breast,  began  to  slip  and  slip  nntil  he  fell  from  the 
seat  right  near  the  stove.  In  a  moment  he  turned 
sick  and  began  to  vomit.  That  seemed  to  relieve 
and  sober  him,  and  he  turned  his  eyes  upon  me  as 
if  dazed.  "Ah,  John,''  I  said,  "if  you  had  only 
taken  my  advice  when  we  were  in  college  together, 
you  would  never  have  come  to  such  a  disgrace."  He 
hiccoughed  a  time  or  two,  and  said:  "S-h-u-ch 
preaching,  (hie)  ash  you're  doing  ish  nuff  to  make 
ennybody  s-h-ick,"  and  he  vomited  Avorse  than  ever, 
evidently  thinking  that  it  was  the  bad  preaching  and 
not  the  bad  whiskey  that  was  upsetting  his  stomach; 
W.  H.  Pleasants,  Esq.,  of  Louisburg,  one  of 
Franklin  county's  best  citizens,  w^as  a  Ealeigh  boy, 
and  like  many  others  who  have  risen  to  spheres  of 
usefulness  and  wealth,  he  was  a  poor  boy;  but,  he 
had  an  ambition  to  do  something  and  to  he  some- 
thing. He  began  his  career  as  a  printer,  serving 
the  first  year  of  his  printer  life  with  Kev.  Burwell 
Temxple,  in  the  Frimitive  Baptist  office,  two  years 
in  the  BihUcal  Recorder  office,  with  Kev.  T.  T.  Mere- 
dith, and  two  years  in  the  office  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Star,  Eev.  Thos.  J.  Lemay,  editor.  He  had 
good  training ;  three  preachers :  one  a  Calvinist,  one 
a  Missionary  Baptist,  and  one  a  Methodist,  and,  as 
he  finally  settled  down  in  the  Methodist  community, 
it  must  be  inferred  he  did  so  because  his  last  in- 
structor, who  was  a  Methodist,  saw  that  he  was 
worth  catching  and  keeping,  and  I  think  he  made 
no  mistake.  So  Brother  Pleasants,  as  many  of  the 
preachers  of  both  the  North  Carolina  Conferences 
know,  is  a  Methodist,  and  keeps  a  Methodist  preach- 
er's home.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  it  was  in  1854  he 
began  the  publication  of  a  paper  in  Louisburg,  soon 
after  he  finished  his  five  years  of  apprenticeship  in 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  289 

Raleigh.  This  was  his  first  venture,  and  from  that 
beginning  he  made  money,  acquired  real  and  per- 
sonal property,  became  a  useful  and  highly  es- 
teemed citizen,  raised  a  family  of  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, who  give  him  pleasure  in  his  old  age,  and  he 
is  still  a  boy  in  his  feelings  and  jolly  in  his  ways, 
though  in  the  latter  years  he  has  been  a  great  suf- 
ferer at  times.  For  fifteen  years  he  was  the  Mayor 
of  Louisburg,  and  I  think  he  told  me  that  he  had 
been  a  steward  of  the  Methodist  church  thirty-five 
years,  as  well  as  a  trustee.  In  politics  he  has  been 
and  is  a  Democrat,  and  when  I  go  to  his  house  in 
the  summer  time  I  generall}^  find  him  on  the  piazza, 
in  his  big  rocking  chair,  reading  the  'Neics  and  Ob- 
server. If  he  w^ere  dead,  I  might  say  many  good 
things  about  him  which  would  be  true;  but,  know- 
ing his  modesty,  his  dislike  of  anything  that  savors 
of  flattery,  I  desist.  As  a  Raleigh  boy  of  the  olden 
time,  I  think  of  him  as  one  of  the  very  few  who 
remain,  and  am  always  glad  to  have  a  talk  with 
him  of  the  boyhood  days. 

Captain  Pleasants  is  m}^  authority  for  the  fol- 
lowing joke  on  Rev.  G.  F.  Smith.  While  Brother 
Smith  was  preaching  in  Greenville,  he  missed  a 
gentleman  one  Sunday,  from  his  congregation.  He 
met  him  the  next  day,  and  in  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion: ^'Where  were  you  yesterday?"  the  gentleman 
remarked,  ^^I  went  to  the  Presbyterian  church,  and, 
strange  to  sa^^,  I  forgot  to  throw  out  my  quid  of 
tobacco  before  going  in." 

''How  did  you  manage?"  asked  Brother  Smith. 

"I  swallowed  it,"  said  the  gentleman. 

"Didn't  it  make  you  sick?"  asked  Brother  Smith. 

"Sick,  indeed,"  replied  the  gentleman.  "A  man 
v.ho  has  heard  you  preach  for  three  years  without 
being  made  sick,  can't  be  made  sick  by  one  chew 
of  tobacco." 

19 


290  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

As  my  hand  is  in,  I  had  just  as  well  tell  one  on 
myself,  which  occurred  away  back  in  the  early  days 
of  my  preaching.  A  brother  was  holding  a  pro- 
tracted meeting  in  the  woods  where  Pleasant  Grove 
church,  Milbrook  circuit,  now  stands.  I  was  in- 
vited to  go  out  and  assist  him;  but,  was  not  able 
to  go  until  Saturday.  On  the  following  Monday  a 
lady  from  the  country,  w^ho  had  butter  for  sale, 
met  me  on  the  street,  and  asked:  '^Aren't  that 
Brother  Whitaker?''  ''Yes,  madam,''  I  answered. 
''And  you  went  out  to  Pleasant  Grove  and  preached 
last  Saturday,"  she  remarked. 

"Yes,  madam,''  I  ansv>xred. 

"I  heard  that  you  were  expected,  and  I  went 
every  day  hoping  to  hear  you ;  but,  Saturday  I  had 
to  stay  at  home  to  do  some  work,  and,  so  I  missed 
hearing  you,  and  I  was  so  sorry." 

"Well,  sister,"  I  said,  "you  didn't  miss  much  by 
not  being  there,"  (sorter  fishing  for  a  further  com- 
pliment). 

"No,  I  reckon  not,  but  I  thought  I'd  like  to  hear 
you,"  she  innocently  said;  and  we  separated.  I 
concluded,  as  I  walked  along,  that  a  fellow  had 
better  be  satisfied  with  the  fish  he  has  in  hand  rather 
than  bait  his  hook  with  it,  to  catch  another,  and 
lose  all. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  291 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

.1  Quaint  Character  Wlio  Roamed  the  Country — 
Freaching  to  a  Cold  Congregation. 

In  these  latter  days  I  have  seen  magnificent 
trains,  running  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  a  minute,  and 
hd\e  had  the  privilege  of  giving  my  ticket  or  pay- 
ing my  money  to  conductors  who  put  on  the  airs  of 
major-generals;  yet  the  magnificent  trains  and  the 
uniformed,  brass-buttoned  conductors  are  not  a 
circumstance  to  the  old-time  stage  driver,  that  man 
of  consequence,  with  reins  and  whip  in  hand,  sit- 
ting on  the  box,  driving  at  the  rate  of  six  miles  an 
hour.  I  suppose  that  the  man  who  writes  reminis- 
cences of  these  stirring  days,  when,  in  the  time  to 
come,  balloons  shall  have  taken  the  places  of  vesti- 
buled  trains  and  palatial  steamers,  will  look  down 
from  the  balloon  window  as  his  airship  makes  its 
thousand  miles  an  hour,  and  sigh  as  he  thinks  of  the 
good  old  times  when,  as  a  boy,  he  could  take  his 
time  along  through  life  at  the  snaiFs  pace  of  a  hun- 
dred miles  an  hour.  Lest  I  should  do  injustice  to 
the  balloon  business,  that  is  to  supercede  other 
modes  of  travel,  when  serial  navigation  has  been 
made  a  success,  I  will  drop  the  subject,  and  come 
down  to  terra  firma,  and  relate  a  few  incidents 
which  will  serve  to  give  the  reader  a  few  moments 
of  pleasure,  I  trust. 

Talking  about  traveling,  I  am  reminded  of  a  char- 
acter, who,  fifty  years  ago,  was  known  to  almost 
everybody  between  Raleigh  and  Fayetteville.  I 
allude  to  an  idiotic  old  man  by  the  name  of  Jesse 
Osborn,  better  known  as  ^^Little  Jess."  He  was 
all  the  time  on  the  go,  and  cut  a  figure  when  he 
went,  for  his  dress  was  often  very  much  in  keeping 
with  the  fancies  of  an  idiotic  taste.     Sometimes  he 


292  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

dressed  as  a  man,  sometimes  as  a  woman.  Some- 
times he  was  very  mucli  over-dressed,  but,  at  other 
times  quite  as  much  under-dressed.  You  would  see 
him  one  time  dressed  in  full  uniform,  traveling 
under  the  title  of  captain,  major  or  colonel;  but, 
the  next  time  you  met  him  he  would,  perhaps,  have 
on  a  woman's  dress,  bonnet  and  veil,  but  always 
barefooted.  There  were  certain  places  along  the 
road  he  made  headquarters,  and  at  these  he  would 
tarry  a  day  or  two;  but,  when  the  people  began  to 
tire  of  his  company,  they  would  get  him  off  by  sug- 
gesting a  little  work  for  him  to  do.  At  the  mention 
of  work,  he  would  say :  ^'I  must  be  gwine'' ;  and  off 
he'd  go.  He  annoyed  a  certain  family  so  much 
they  thought  they  would  get  rid  of  him.  The  gen- 
tleman had  a  married  daughter  living  in  the  west, 
whom  "Jess"  had  known,  and  of  whom,  when  she 
was  a  young  lady,  he  was  very  fond.  The  gentle- 
man said  to  "Jess"  one  day,  that  he  would  like  to 
send  a  letter  to  that  daughter,  and  asked  "Jess"  if 
he  would  take  it  to  her  and  bring  him  an  answer 
back.  He  said  he  would  for  twenty-five  cents. 
So  the  letter  was  written  and  folded  in  a  piece 
of  cloth  to  keep  it  from  wearing  out  by  much 
handling,  and  "Jess"  took  it  and  started  on  his 
tiresome  journey.  He  sauntered  off  down  the  road 
and  soon  was  lost  to  sight,  when  the  gentleman 
and  his  family  congratulated  themselves  upon 
the  fact  that  "Jess"  would  never  trouble  them 
again,  the  bargain  being  that  he  was  not  to  come 
back  there  nor  receive  his  pay  until  he  had  delivered 
tlie  letter  to  the  daughter  in  the  west,  and  brought 
one  from  her.  When  the  people  heard  how  "Jess" 
had  been  gotten  rid  of,  it  was  considered  the  best 
joke  of  the  times,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  could  not 
have  been  more  unanimously  given  than  were  the 
expressions  of  relief  heard  on  all  sides.  "Jess" 
had  gone,  and,  after  awhile,  the  people  ceased  to 
talk  about  him.     The  prevailing  opinion  of  those 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  293 

who  thought  or  spoke  of  him  was  that  he  had  wan- 
dered off  and  died;  in  fact,  the  report  gained  cur- 
rency that  he  was  dead.  About  a  year  after  he 
started  off  with  a  letter,  the  gentleman  who  sent 
him  was  sitting  on  his  porch,  one  day,  nodding  over 
a  newspaper,  just  before  eating  his  dinner,  when 
some  one  shook  him  rudely  by  the  shoulder,  say- 
ing :  ''Here's  a  letter  from  your  gal ;  give  me  that 
quarter  you  owe  me !" 

A  ghost  from  the  grave  could  not  have  frightened 
him  any  worse,  for  a  moment,  as  he  opened  his  eyes 
and  beheld  what  looked  like  an  apparition. 

^'Here-s  your  letter,"  Jess  repeated,  ''and  I  want 
my  twenty-five  cents.'' 

Sure  enough,  he  had  a  letter  from  the  man's 
daughter,  which  had  been  written  about  six  months. 
She  told  how  long,  after  "Jess"  had  left  her  father's 
house,  before  he  handed  her  the  letter,  and  it  was 
about  six  months.  He  made  the  round  trip  in  a 
year;  carried  and  brought  a  letter  for  twenty-five 
cents,  and  resumed  business  on  the  road  between 
Ealeigh  and  Fayetteville,  as  if  there  had  been  no 
suspension. 

When  the  county  of  Harnett  was  first  formed,  the 
county-site  was  Summerville,  and  "Jess"  was  a 
regular  attendant  upon  the  courts  held  there,  and 
imagined  that  he  was  a  deputy  sheriff;  carrying  a 
pair  of  saddle-bags  on  his  arm,  filled  with  imagi- 
nary writs,  he  stopped  every  man  he  met  court  week 
to  serve  a  paper  on  him.  The  people  humored  his 
whims,  and  sometimes  a  man  would  allow  "Jess" 
to  arrest  him,  while  he  would  make  out  like  he  was 
in  great  distress. 

On  one  occasion.  Col.  Malcolm  J.  McDuffie,  a 
Fayetteville  lawyer,  had  a  very  bad  case  in  court 
at  Summerville — a  case  in  which  the  law  and  the 
evidence  were  against  him;  so,  his  only  hope  was 
to  make  an  emotional,  semi-religious  talk,  on  the 


294  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

line  of  the  golden  rule,  to  the  jury,  and  emphasize 
"doing  unto  others  as  (in  similar  circumstances) 
you  would  have  others  do  unto  you."  He  soon  got 
the  jury  well  in  hand,  and  his  Scotch  blood  running 
up  like  the  mercury  in  a  thermometer,  to  burning 
heat,  he  poured  forth  volleys  of  red-hot  eloquence 
which  melted  the  hearts  of  twelve  jurymen,  as  a 
summer's  sun  would  melt  a  snow  flake.  Great  big 
tears  stood  in  their  eyes,  and  emotions,  like  the 
heavings  of  a  volcano,  were  throbbing  hard  against 
their  jacket  buttons,  and  still  McDuffie  was  laying 
on;  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  in  an  old-time  camp- 
meeting  strain,  somebody  said:  "Glory!  Glory! 
Glory!" 

The  spell  was  broken.  The  jurymen,  who,  a  mo- 
ment before,  were  suffused  in  tears,  with  everybody 
else  in  the  court-room,  broke  out  into  a  roar  of 
laughter,  while  "Jess,"  who  thought  McDuffie  was 
preaching,  and  shouting  was  still  in  order,  contin- 
ued to  say :   "Glory !  Glory !" 

Of  course  Colonel  McDuflfle  lost  his  case. 

One  more  incident,  and  I  will  let  "Jess"  go  back 
to  his  grave.  In  1861  I  lived  on  a  farm  south  of 
Ealeigh,  and  one  day  the  summons  to  dinner  did 
not  come  to  us  at  the  dinner  hour.  I  finally  told 
the  plowmen  to  unhitch,  and  we  w^ent  home  to  see 
about  dinner.  When  I  reached  the  yard,  I  saw 
"Jess"  sitting  on  the  kitchen  steps,  and  the  door  was 
shut.  My  wife,  who,  with  the  cook,  was  in  the 
kitchen,  heard  my  voice,  and  said :  "I  am  certainly 
glad  you've  come.  That  good-for-nothing  fellow 
out  there  has  been  sitting  on  the  steps  at  least  two 
hours,  and  we  could  not  go  out  to  get  wood  or  wa- 
ter." "Oh,"  I  said  in  reply  to  my  wife,  "this  is  an 
old  friend  of  mine.  Captain  Jesse  Osborn." 

"I  don't  want  to  see  any  more  of  your  friends,'' 
my  wife  replied,  "if  they  are  like  that  one."  By 
that  time  the  door  was  opened,  and  soon  thereafter 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  295 

dinner  was  served,  and  Jess,  who  said  he  was  not  at 
all  hungry,  in  fact,  had  about  quit  eating,  devoured 
a  dinner  that  complimented  in  the  highest  possible 
manner  the  hostess,  the  provisions  and  the  cook. 
''Jess''  seemed  to  take  a  great  liking  to  my  wife  dur- 
ing the  dinner;  but,  she  spoke  to  him  as  little  as 
possible. 

Just  before  leaving  that  evening,  he  said  to  my 
wife :  "I  dreamed  about  you  last  night.'' 

"Dreamed  about  me?"  asked  my  wife.  "You  did 
not  know  me  last  night ;  and  how  could  you  dream 
of  any  one  you  did  not  know? 

"Yes,  I  did  dream  about  you." 

"Well,  sir,  what  did  you  dream?" 

"I  dreamed  you  give  me  an  old  shirt." 

"You  shall  have  one,"  said  my  wife;  and  he  got 
it.  I  never  saw^  "Jess"  but  once  after  that.  I  met 
him  one  day  near  Walnut  Creek,  dressed  in  a  Con- 
federate uniform  and  wearing  a  cavalryman's  saber. 
He  was  on  his  way,  he  said,  to  join  the  army.  I 
do  not  know^  when,  where  or  how  he  died;  but,  I 
did  not  see  or  hear  of  him  after  the  war.  Barclays- 
ville  used  to  be  his  favorite  stopping  place,  as  Mrs. 
Barclay  and  her  daughters  were  kind  to  him,  show- 
ing more  feeling  for  him  than  most  people,  which 
he  had  sense  enough  to  appreciate.  I  could  tell 
many  incidents  of  him  and  his  wanderings  to  and 
fro ;  but,  I  will  not  keep  him  out  of  his  grave  any 
longer. 

Thinking  of  the  old-time  log-meeting-house  brings 
up  a  funny  incident  that  I  will  tell  as  a  finale  to  this 
article.  It  happened,  one  cold  winter  day,  when 
the  only  place  about  that  meeting-house  was  out- 
doors, on  the  sunny  side  of  the  house.  Inside  was 
intolerably  cold,  for  the  wind  not  only  came  through 
the  cracks  between  the  logs,  but  through  the  floor 
as  well.  The  circuit  preacher  had  not  come,  and 
the  congregation,  outside,  was  shivering  and  stamp- 


296  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

ing  and  becoming  impatient.  A  local  preacher  was 
there,  and,  if  any  one  had  even  suggested  it,  he 
would  have  been  preaching  all  the  time  they  had 
been  waiting ;  but,  no  one  had  made  the  suggestion. 
At  last,  however,  some  one  said :  ^'We  had  as  well 
go  home,  unless  Brother  Jones  (meaning  the  local 
preacher),  will  try  to  give  us  a  talk."  '^Come  in, 
then,"  said  Brother  Jones,  as  he  promptly  made  his 
way  up  into  the  old-fashioned,  barrel-like  pulpit. 
As  soon  as  he  sat  down,  he  began  to  sing,  "How 
Firm  a  Foundation,"  and  the  congregation,  with 
chattering  teeth,  followed  him  through  the  seven 
stanzas.  Then  he  read  the  119th  Psalm,  containing 
176  verses,  and  gave  out  a  hymn  with  six  stanzas, 
which  the  now  almost  frozen  congregation  couldn't 
sing,  but  chattered.  After  which  he  prayed  loudly 
and  earnestly  for  about  twenty  minutes.  Rising 
from  his  knees,  he  took  for  his  text :  "Whatsoever 
thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,"  etc., 
and  went  on  to  impress  the  idea,  that  whether  hot 
or  cold,  comfortable  or  uncomfortable,  religious 
services  should  not  be  curtailed,  but  should  be  per- 
formed as  if  though  the  conditions  were  pleasant. 
And,  warming  up  to  the  subject,  he  preached  for  an 
hour  and  a  quarter,  loud  enough  to  be  heard  half 
a  mile,  forgetting  all  about  the  frigidity  of  the  con- 
gregation. Two  hours  and  a  half  in  that  cold  house 
had  well-nigh  frozen  the  crowd,  but  they  all  were 
bound  to  admit  it  was  a  great  sermon.  Going  out, 
one  man  said:  "Br-Br-Brethren,  I-I-I  th-think  we 
o-o-ou-ought  to  p-p-put  a  sto-sto-stove  in  t-th-this 
ch-chur-church."  "I-I'm  o-op-oposed  t-to  t-th-that," 
said  another;  "w-we  o-ou-ought  t-to  b-bu-build  a 
n-ne-new  ch-ch-church." 

And  so,  when  they  got  outside,  in  the  sunshine, 
they  chattered  and  shivered  until  they  made  up 
money  enough  to  build  a  new  church  sure  enough. 
The  local  preac]ier  said  afterward,  he  didn't  know, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  297 

for  certain,  what  spirit  it  was  that  prompted  him 
to  sing  those  long  hymns,  read  that  long  Psalm, 
pray  that  long  prayer,  and  preach  that  long  sermon ; 
but,  of  one  thing  he  was  certain,  that  long  service 
froze  the  stinginess  out  of  that  crowd  and  resulted 
in  the  building  of  a  new  and  comfortable  church. 

Those  old  log  meeting-houses  were  not  only  un- 
comfortable in  winter;  but,  equally  so,  to  the  wo- 
men at  least,  in  the  summer,  for  red-headed  scor- 
pions Avould  frequently  make  their  appearance,  and 
almost  scare  the  lives  out  of  some  of  them.  In  fact, 
the  cry  of  fire  wouldn't  run  a  crowd  of  women  out 
of  a  church  quicker  than  one  little  fleet-footed,  red- 
headed scorpion,  prancing  about  under  the  benches. 
Women  don't  like  them,  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  I 
don't  blame  them.  I  am  glad  that  the  old  log 
meeting-house  has  gone  with  its  red-headed  scor- 
pion. Now,  if  we  could  keep  the  dogs  out  of  our 
new  churches,  we'd  be  all  right. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Some    Old-Time   Preaching    and   Preachers — ^^My 
Sheep  KnoiD  My  Voice — AhF' 

In  my  young  days  there  were  a  great  many  illit- 
erate preachers,  some  of  whom  (if  living  and 
preaching  noAv)  would  hardly  be  acceptable  in  any 
community;  though,  in  their  day  and  time,  they 
were  regarded  as  oracles,  indeed. 

Soon  after  the  Missionary  and  the  Primitive  Bap- 
tist churches  pulled  apart,  an  association  of  the 
latter  was  held  near  Hickory,  formerly  known  as 
^'Hickory  Tavern."  A  distinguished  minister  of 
the  Missionary  church  was  sent  as  a  fraternal  mes- 
senger to  that  association  for  the  purpose  of  trying 


298  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

to  infuse  into  the  Primitives  the  Missionary  Spirit. 
The  Association  was  held  near  a  fine  spring,  and  a 
gentleman,  who  told  me  of  the  circumstances,  gave 
me  a  very  graphic  picture  of  the  spring,  the  sur- 
roundings, and  the  appearance  of  the  preachers,  all 
of  whom  were  clad  in  homespun,  and  especially  of 
the  moderator,  whom  I  will  call  Micajah  Hawkins. 

When  the  Association  was  in  session,  the  fra- 
ternal messenger,  representing  the  Missionary 
church,  was  allowed  to  preach,  or  make  a  Mission- 
ary speech;  and  no  one  could  have  performed  the 
duty  better  than  he  did.  He  described  the  Son  of 
God  as  a  missionary,  sent  from  heaven  to  bring  the 
glad  tidings  of  great  joy  to  a  sin-cursed  world; 
alluded  to  Christ's  work,  suffering,  death,  resurrec- 
tion and  ascension;  and,  finally,  with  great  empha- 
sis, he  spoke  of  the  Master's  last  talk  with  His  dis- 
ciples ;  of  His  going  to  prepare  a  home  for  us,  while 
we,  on  our  part,  were  to  "go  into  all  the  w^orld  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  evei^^  creature."  In  short,  he 
made  a  first-class  missionary  talk,  winding  up  with 
an  exhortation  to  all  present  to  obey  the  dear  Lord's 
last  request. 

While  he  was  talking,  the  adherents  of  Micajah 
Hawkins,  with  hats  on,  hung  their  heads,  and  had 
the  appearance  of  men  who  were  enduring  a  great 
torture,  ever  and  anon  shaking  their  heads  in  dis- 
approval of  what  the  preacher  was  saying.  As 
soon  as  he  finished,  up  rose  the  moderator  of  the 
Association,  and  up  came  the  heads  of  his  followers, 
and  he  began  as  follows : 

'^Somewhere  between  the  lids  of  the  Bible  you'll 
find  my  text,  my  brethren,  and  ef  my  memory  serves 
me  right,  it  reads  thus :  'My  sheep  know  my  voice.' 
My  name  is  Micajah  Hawkins,  and  I  live  a-w-a-y 
over  the  mountains,  down  by  the  side  of  the  Nanta- 
hala  River,  and  I  was  never  down  in  this  low  coun- 
try before.     And  when  I  Avas  about  to  leave  home, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  299 

nn'  Avife  said  unto  me:  ^As  you  are  gwine  a-w-a-y 
down  into  that  Ioav  country  where  the  water  is  full 
of  wiggietails,  and  the  bull  frogs  jump  from  bank 
to  bank,  you'd  better  take  a  little  of  the  mountain 
dew  'long  with  you,  Micajah,  to  mix  with  the  water 
to  kill  the  wiggletails  and  keep  off  the  chills.  And, 
my  brethren,  I've  got  a  little  of  it  rite  here  in  my 
pocket;  for  my  text  says:  My  sheep  know  my 
voice,  ah !" 

His  idea  was  to  establish  himself  as  the  true  shep- 
herd of  the  sheep,  and  at  the  same  time  discredit 
the  messenger  and  the  message,  that  had  come  to 
them.     And  this  is  the  way  he  did  it.     He  said : 

^^Once  I  had  a  little  lamb  sheep  that  didn't  have 
any  mother,  for  the  dogs  killed  every  sheep  I  had 
but  that  little  lamb — ah.  So  me  and  my  wife  and 
Jane — that's  my  darter,  and  the  only  child  I've  got 
— Ave  took  that  little  lamb  into  the  house — ah,  as 
one  of  the  family,  as  it  were,  and  we  fed  it  and 
nursed  it;  and  it  wasn't  long  before  it  begun  to 
show  its  keeping,  and  frisk  about  the  house  just  the 
same  as  our  little  Jane  did;  and  it  wasn't  long  be- 
fore it  got  to  be  mity  mischee-ve-ous,  cutting  up  all 
sorts  of  pranks  and  doing  funny  things,  just  like  it 
was  a  sho-nuff  little  child — ah.  One  day,  when  it 
had  got  to  be  a  great  big  sheep,  my  wife  had  com- 
pany— Brother  Zachariah  Wilkins  and  his  whole 
family,  which  was  ten  in  all— (he  and  his  wife  and 
eight  children)  ;  and  that  day  my  wife  put  the  big 
pot  in  the  little  one,  as  the  saying  is,  and  got  a  mity 
fine  dinner.  And  as  there  were  thirteen  to  eat  at 
one  time,  we  lengthened  out  the  table  by  taking 
the  barn  door  and  propping  it  up  on  forks  driv  in 
the  ground,  for,  as  it  was  warm  w^eather,  we  set  the 
table  out  in  the  yard — ah ;  for  my  text  says :  ^My 
sheep  know  my  A^oice — ah.' 

"All  the  time  my  wife  and  Sister  Wilkins  were 
fixin'   the  dinner,  me  and   Brother  Wilkins  were 


300 

talking  about  things  in  gineral,  and  the  elect  in 
perticler,  and  the  nine  children  and  the  little  Nan- 
nie sheep  was  a  playing,  a  hopping,  and  a  skipping, 
and  a  running  and  jumping,  all  around  the  yard — 
the  children  a  laughing  and  a  screaming  and  the 
little  lamb  a  bleating — ah.  Me  and  Brother  Wil- 
kins  was  getting  mity  hungry,  and  we  was  watching 
the  women  as  they  went  and  come,  hoping  they'd 
soon  call  us.  I  seed  my  wife  bring  out  the  dish  of 
cabbage  and  the  Irish  potatoes,  and  Sister  Wilkins 
come  rite  after  her  with  the  big  chicken  pie  and 
something  else;  and  here  they  went  backwards  and 
forwards,  bringing  out  and  fixing,  and  purty  soon 
my  wife  called  the  children,  and  they  come  a  run- 
ning, like  chickens  to  the  coop  when  they  are  called 
to  be  fed — ah.  Here  they  come,  nine  children  and 
the  lamb — ah,  and  me  and  Brother  Wilkins  was  a' 
coming  from  the  other  way — ah,  for  my  text  says, 
my  sheep  know  my  voice — ah.  And,  my  brethren, 
what  do  you  think?  That  lamb,  which  had  got  to 
be  a  great  big  lamb,  come  running  with  the  children 
and  jumped  up  on  the  table  and  turned  it  over,  and 
broke  mity  nigh  ev-ry  dish,  and  ev-ry  plate,  and 
messed  up  one  of  the  best  dinners  that  was  ever 
cooked  on  the  banks  of  the  Nantahala  Eiver  before 
or  since  the  flood — ah. 

^^My  wife  ris  right  up  and  said:  'Micajah,  that 
sheep's  got  to  go  right  out  of  this  yard — and  it's 
got  to  stay  out.'  I  knowed  she  meant  it;  so  me  and 
Brother  Wilkins  and  the  children  driv  it  out,  just 
like  the  angel  driv  Adam  and  Eve  out'n  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  and  by  that  time  my  wife  and  Sister  Wil- 
kins had  sorter  righted  up  the  table,  and  we  all  sot 
down,  and  Brother  Wilkins  asked  the  blessing,  but 
it  was  a  mity  poor  dinner  to  say  grace  over,  consid- 
ering what  it  might  have  been — ah. 

"After  Brother  Wilkins  and  Sister  Wilkins  and 
their  eight  children  had  left,  and  there  was  nobody 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  301 

there  but  little  Jane,  it  looked  mity  lonesome,  and 
we  begun  to  miss  the  lamb  that  was  always  so 
frisky,  and  my  wife  began  to  be  mity  sorry  for  the 
little  thing,  and  wanted  it  brung  back ;  for,  she  said, 
it  wasn't  the  lamb's  fault,  nohow;  but,  it  all  hap- 
pened just  because  she  had  thirteen  people  to  eat, 
and  had  put  thirteen  plates  on  the  table,  which,  she 
says,  will  always  bring  bad  luck — ah.  So,  my  breth- 
ren, she  went  to  the  gate,  and  for  half  an  hour  she 
cried,  ^Nannie,  O,  Nannie !'  But  Nannie  didn't  an- 
SAver.  Then  she  came  back  to  the  house  and  sent 
Jane  to  the  gate  to  call,  as  Jane  was  Nannie's  play- 
mate. So  she  went  out  there  and  climbed  on  top 
of  the  gate-post  and  cried:  ^Nannie,  O  Nannie!' 
until  she  got  rite  hoarse,  but  Nannie  didn't  answer. 

^^Tlien,  my  beloved  brethren,  being  the  shepherd 
of  the  flock,  I  Avent  out  to  the  gate,  and  in  my  usual 
tone  of  voice,  I  cried  out :  ^Nannie,  O  Nannie !'  and 
Nannie  said  ^B-a-a-h!'  for  my  text  says,  My  sheep 
know  my  voice — ah !" 

The  point  was  made:  Brother  Hawkins  had 
proved  by  his  parable  that  the  fraternal  messenger 
was  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  and  that  he  was  the 
true  shepherd.     That  was  sixty  years  ago. 

The  reader  may  think  it  incredible,  yet,  what  I 
am  about  to  relate  is  true.  A  preacher,  to  satisfy 
his  followers  that  he  and  they  were  right,  and  all 
others  were  wrong,  spent  about  an  hour  dissecting 
a  turkey,  as  follows: 

"Yes,  my  brethren,  you  see  that  fine  turkey  gob- 
bler strutting  around,  and  you  think  from  the  way 
he  struts  he's  got  twenty  pounds  of  good  meat  on 
him ;  but,  my  brethren,  when  you  cut  his  head,  feet 
and  wings  off,  and  pull  out  his  tail,  you'll  begin  to 
think  that  twenty-pounder  will  hardly  turn  the 
scales  at  the  ten-pound  notch,  if  he  goes  over  nine 
and  a  half.  But,  my  brethren,  you  ain't  done  with 
that  turkey  yet.     You  take  your  knife  and  rip  him 


302  whitaker\s  reminiscences. 


'I  cried  Nannie,  O  Nannie  !  and  Nannie  said  b-a-a-h  !' 


INCIDENTS    AND   ANECDOTES.  303 

open  and  take  out  his  innards,'  which  ain't  fit  for 
nothing  but  to  be  cast  out,  and  then  take  out  the 
liver  and  the  gizzard,  which  are  only  fit  for  dogs  to 
eat,  and  you'll  find,  my  beloved  brethren,  that  your 
twenty-pound  gobbler  is  getting  mighty  light.  Cook 
that  turkey  and  bring  him  on  the  table,  and  every- 
body^ wants  a  piece  of  the  breast,  because  that's  the 
choice  part  of  the  turkey,  and  nobody  feels  like  he's 
eat  turkey  if  he  didn't  get  a  piece  of  the  breast." 

"So  it  is,  my  beloved  brethren,  as  it  were,  with  the 
thing  you  call  Eeligion.  The  wicked  people  of  this 
A\orld  make  out  like  there's  one  great  big  church 
til  at  is  made  up  of  many  denominations,  and,  that 
they  are  all  good  alike.  That  big  church,  like  that 
big  gobbler,  looks  mighty  fine  and  struts  around 
and  gobbles ;  but,  my  brethren,  there's  mighty  little 
about  that  big  gobbler  church  that's  any  account. 
The  Catholics  think  they  are  the  head,  they  snort 
and  gobble;  the  Episcopalians  come  next,  and  they 
are  the  neck;  the  Methodists  claim  to  be  the  back- 
bone and  the  wings ;  the  Presbyterians  are  the  upper 
legs;  the  Missionary  Baptists  are  the  drum-sticks 
and  the  feet;  and  the  other  denominations,  too  te- 
dious to  mention,  are  the  feathers,  the  entrails,  and 
tlie  bones.  But,  my  brethren,  the  church,  the  true 
church,  the  only  true  church,  is  the  breast  of  the 
turkey,  that  God  made  for  the  elect  to  feed  upon, 
and  you  can't  be  fooled,  my  brethren,  for  the  Lord 
will  not  allow  His  saints  to  be  deceived." 

It  would  sound  strange,  indeed,  to  an  audience  of 
this  day  and  time  to  hear  such  preaching  as  that; 
yet  sixty  years  ago  it  was  nothing  uncommon. 

Peter  had  to  have  his  exclusiveness  and  narrow- 
mindedness  driven  out  before  he  could  adjust  him- 
self to  the  great  command,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  He  was 
a  hard-shell  in  the  truest  sense  until  that  sheet  was 
let  down  from  heaven,  having  all  manner  of  beasts 


304  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

upon  it,  some  of  which  the  Jew  could  not  eat,  and 
God  said :  ''Slay  and  eat !''  He  refused  at  first,  but 
when  that  sheet  came  down  the  third  time,  he  under- 
stood its  meaning,  as  well  as  the  meaning  of  the 
whole  circumstance,  and  the  result  was,  his  eyes 
were  opened  to  the  truth:  ^That  God  is  no  re- 
specter of  persons/' 

May  the  light  continue  to  shine  brighter  and 
brighter,  until  the  gospel  of  peace  and  brotherly 
love  shall  subdue  every  land,  and  bring  every  bigot 
and  every  narrow-minded  sectarian  to  understand 
that  "he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteous- 
ness is  accepted  with  him'';  that  such,  and  only 
such,  are  the  real  body  of  Christ. 

I  hope,  that  as  the  years  go  by,  we  will  go  on  in 
the  getting  and  using  of  common  sense,  and  in  the 
better  understanding  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
until  the  world  shall  have  fully  learned  that  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  is  a  gospel  of  peace  and  good  will 
to  men,  and,  that  the  light  of  that  gospel  may  shine 
out  all  ignorance  and  intolerance. 


CHAPTEE  XXXIX. 

t^ome  Ludicrous  Incidents  in  Churches — Turpentine 
and  Ton  Timber — Dr.  Byrd^  and  Old-Time  Re- 
collections. 

Ludicrous  things  will  sometimes  happen  in 
churches — mir  th-provoking  things — which  destroy, 
for  a  time  at  least,  all  seriousness  and  solemnity, 
and  turn  the  house  of  God  into  a  scene  of  levity. 

One  of  these  mirth-provoking  things  occurred 
when  I  was  a  boy.  There  was  in  an  adjoining 
neighborhood  a  man  who,  after  reading  the  account 
of  Nebuchadnezzar's  humiliation,  eating  grass,  etc., 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  305 

imagined  that  he  was  another  Nebuchadnezzar,  and 
that  he  had  to  eat  grass  aAvhile.  So  he  belled  him- 
self like  a  coav,  and  took  to  the  old  fields  and  the 
woods,  and  soon  got  as  Avild  as  a  buck.  His  friends 
tried  to  surround  him  and  driA^e  him  in,  but  for 
quite  aAvhile  they  were  unable  either  to  drive  him 
or  capture  him.  They  did,  however,  succeed  at  last 
in  penning  and  roi3ing  him,  and  finally  got  him 
home  and  succeeded  in  taming  him,  after  so  long 
a  time. 

Not  long  after  he  became  docile,  he  had  a  call  to 
preach,  and,  to  those  who  had  the  patience  to  sit 
and  listen,  he  would  preach  anywhere  from  three 
to  four  hours.  I  heard  of  his  preaching  ability — 
1  mean  his  powers  of  endurance — and  curiosity 
led  me  to  go  over  and  hear  him  for  myself.  Quite 
a  crowd  Avas  there,  brought  out,  doubtless,  by  the 
same  motiAe  AAhich  impelled  me;  and,  at  an  early 
hour,  the  preacher  went  in  and  began  to  rant;  for, 
his  preaching  AA-as  that  and  nothing  more.  He 
Avould  shut  his  eyes  and  scream  at  the  very  top  of 
his  voice,  until  it  looked  like  the  blood  might  gush 
out  of  his  mouth  and  nose ;  then,  he  would  drop  his 
voice  to  a  coarse  Avhisper  for  a  sentence  or  two, 
svhen  he  Avould  begin  to  rise,  and  soon  he  would  be 
at  the  top  notch  again.  Old  Nebuchadnezzar  Avas 
his  theme,  and  Mesof)otamia  his  resting  place;  for, 
Avhen  he  had  rambled  all  over  creation  and  said  a 
thousand  unheard-of  things,  and  looked  as  if  he 
would  faint  from  sheer  exhaustion,  he  Avould  gently 
light  on  Mesopotamia,  Avipe  the  sweat  from  his  broAV 
and  spit.  I  guess  he  had  been  preaching  about 
tAvo  hours,  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  in  the  midst  of  one 
of  his  most  fiery  flights,  he  suddenly  came  to  a  halt 
and  said :  "Brethren,  I'm  bound  to  eat  a  biskit. 
Won't  you  all  sing  a  hime,  while  I  eat  and  rest  a 
little?"     And  doAAn  he  sat. 

20 


300  vvhitaker's  reminiscences, 

It  is  needless  to  say  the  liime  was  poorly  sung. 
One  or  two  old  sisters  piped  out  in  wheezy  strains, 
^'Show  pity,  Lord'-;  but  the  bulk  of  the  congrega- 
tion went  out  to  get  breath  and  finish  the  laugh  that 
began  in  the  church. 

It  was  not  far  from  that  place,  Avhere,  at  the  close 
of  a  protracted  meeting  held  by  Rev.  Lewis  Pipkin, 
an  old  woman  presented  herself  for  church  mem- 
bership. The  preacher  heard  her  experience,  and 
asked  her  several  questions ;  but,  Avas  still  undecided 
in  his  mind  as  to  whether  her  experience  was  ex- 
actly satisfactory.  In  his  perplexity,  he  turned  to 
a  preacher  of  another  denomination,  and  asked  him 
what  he  thought  of  the  sister's  experience.  ''I 
don't  like  to  say,"  he  replied,  '^as  I  am  not  a  member 
of  this  church.-' 

Finally,  Eev.  Pipkin  said:  '^Sister,  I  am  not  ex- 
actly clear  in  my  mind  about  taking  you;  I'd  rather 
you'd  wait  until — '' 

^^O,  drat  your  waiting"  she  interrupted  him  by 
saying.  ^'If  you  don't  want  me  to  jine  here,  dern'd 
if  I  keer.  I  know  where  I  can  jiue."  And  out  she 
went,  to  the  amazement  of  the  preachers  and  to  the 
greater  amusement  of  the  congregation. 

I  call  to  mind  an  incident  that  took  place  in  the 
Holly  Springs  Bax)tist  church,  when  I  was  but  a 
youth,  that  caused  a  merriment  which  came  well- 
nigh  breaking  up  the  services,  one  Sunday.  Kev. 
Patrick  DoAvd  was  preaching,  and  the  audience  was 
hanging  upon  his  words  with  intensest  interest, 
when,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  man  arose,  stepped  out  in 
front  of  the  pulpit  and  said :  ^'Preach  on,  Mr.  Dowd. 
Don't  mind  my  going  out.  I'm  just  going  to  the 
spring  to  get  a  drink  of  water.  I'll  be  back  in  a 
few  minutes."  And  making  a  profound  bow,  he 
turned  and  went  out.  Of  course  it  made  a  sensa- 
tion. 

I  don't  remember  the  man's  name,  but  lie  was  a 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  307 

sort  of  half-witted  fellow  whom  all  knew,  and  due 
allowance  was  made  for  his  untimel}^  remarks. 

One  of  the  most  ludicrous  things  1  ever  witnessed 
happened  one  night  in  Franklin  county,  at  Shiloh 
church.  Rev.  C.  O.  DuRant  was  lireaching  a  revi- 
val sermon,  using  for  his  text,  ^^In  hell  he  lifted  up 
his  eyes,  being  in  torments;  and  seeth  Abraham 
afar  off,  and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom.  And  he  cried 
and  said.  Father  Abraham,  have  mercy  on  me,  and 
send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger 
in  water,  and  cool  mj  tongue;  for  I  am  tormented 
in  this  flame."  xlbout  the  time  the  preacher  was 
making  the  sermon  extremelj^  awful,  talking  of  the 
thirsty  tongue  that  cried  for  just  one  drop  of  water 
to  cool  it,  a  brother  who  limped  in  walking,  arose 
from  his  seat,  took  a  bucket  of  water  that  sat  on  a 
table  in  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  with  dipper  in  hand, 
went  up  and  doAvn  the  aisle  Avatering  the  congrega- 
tion, until  he  emptied  the  bucket,  and  then  started 
out  to  get  another  bucketful;  but  I  stopped  him. 
The  congregation  saw  the  humor  in  it,  and  could 
not  help  smiling.  It  looked  as  if  the  brother 
thought  he'd  better  water  that  crowd,  lest  they 
might  be  where  there  was  no  water,  ver^^  soon.  I 
don't  know  what  other  idea  could  have  possessed 
him.     But  enough  of  this. 

Seeing  that  Dr.  C.  W.  Byrd,  of  Atlanta,  Ga.,  re- 
cently preached  at  Pleasant  Plains,  Harnett  coun- 
ty, near  the  home  of  his  mother,  brings  to  my  mind 
many  things  of  the  long-ago.  In  my  boj^hood  days, 
my  father  and  A.  F.  Page,  Esq.  ( then  a  young  man ) , 
and  my  elder  brother,  went  into  the  turpentine  and 
timber  business  in  Cumberland  county,  near  Bar- 
(jaysville.  There  was  no  Harnett  count}^  at  that 
time. 

It  seems  as  if  it  Avere  but  yesterday  when  "Frank 
l*age,"  then  a  young  man,  my  brother  Jefferson,  and 
a  young  ]Mr.  Byrd  (all  now  dead),  left  my  father's 


oOS  whitakee's  reminiscences, 

house,  one  morning,  to  go  down  to  the  scene  of  oper- 
ations. And  how  vividly  come  back  to  me  the  re- 
collections of  those  turpentine  and  timber  opera- 
tions. Turpentine  axes,  hackers,  scrapers  and  dip- 
pers were  all  new  to  me;  but,  I  soon  became  so 
familiar  with  them  their  novelty  ceased;  and,  after 
using  them  awhile,  I  was  heartily  sorry  I  ever  saw 
one. 

Hewing,  hauling  and  rafting  ton  timber  was  a 
bigger  thing  to  me  than  the  turpentine  business. 
And  going  doAvn  the  Cape  Fear,  from  Averysboro  to 
Wilmington,  on  a  raft,  was  a  very  exciting  experi- 
ence to  me  as  a  boy. 

Ton  timber  was  hewn  pine  logs.  A  large  pine 
squaring  12  inches,  fifty  feet  long,  would  contain 
000  square  feet  of  timber,  and  a  raft  that  was  200 
feet  long  would  have  not  less  than  a  hundred  such 
sticks,  equal  to  sixty  thousand  square  feet.  The 
saw-mill  men  of  Wilmington  would  buy  those  rafts, 
paying  from  five  to  ten  dollars  a  thousand.  So,  a 
raft  of  ton  timber  Avould  bring  from  a  hundred  and 
fifty  to  five  hundred  dollars. 

Carrying  a  raft  over  Smiley's  Falls,  just  above 
Averysboro,  was  an  exciting  as  well  as  a  very  dan- 
gerous affair,  and  none  but  the  bravest  and  most 
skillful  raftsmen  Avould  undertake  it;  yet,  hun- 
dreds of  rafts  did  go  over  those  falls.  The  water 
had  to  be  a  certain  height  before  the  raftsmen  would 
dare  to  cut  loose,  as  there  were  many  dangerous 
rocks  over  which  the  rafts  had  to  go.  And  what 
made  going  over  those  falls  still  more  hazardous, 
requiring  the  most  skillful  piloting,  was  the  fact 
that  there  Avas  a  very  narroAV  place  on  the  falls, 
where  the  water  was  swiftest,  on  either  side  of 
which  were  great  rocks,  that  would  have  torn  a  raft 
into  shivers  had  it  struck  one  of  them.  Those  who 
had  frequently  gone  over  the  falls  and  through  that 
narrow  place,  told  me  the  run  was  at  the  rate  of 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  309 

twentY-iive  miles  an  hour,  aud  all  that  could  be 
done  when  the  raft  was  draAvn  into  the  swift  current 
was  to  hold  the  oars  steady  and  let  it  run. 

It  generally  took  a  raft  three  or  four  days  to  go 
from  Averysboro  to  Wilmington,  and  it  required 
about  four  men  to  pilot  it.  Of  course  it  could  go 
no  faster  than  the  current  of  the  river.  And  when 
it  met  the  incoming  tide,  near  Wilmington,  it  would 
turn  back,  unless  tied  to  the  shore.  Steamboats 
steered  clear  of  rafts,  for,  while  they  could  not  do 
a  raft  any  damage,  a  raft  could  and  would  do  them 
a  great  deal. 

The  headquarters  of  those  turpentine  and  timber 
operations,  were  at  Mr.  Daniel  Shaw's,  on  the 
Averysboro  road,  four  miles  south  of  Barclaysville. 
Mr.  Shaw  was  a  fine  old  Scotch  gentleman,  whom 
everybody  liked,  and,  though  far  advanced  in  life 
when  I  kncAv  him  he  was  as  jolly  as  a  boy.  One  of 
his  daughters  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Byrd,  who  did 
not  return  to  Wake,  but  settled  near  Barclaysville, 
where  he  became  a  substantial  citizen,  raising  up 
a  family  of  children,  one  of  whom  is  the  distin- 
guished Dr.  C.  W.  Byrd,  of  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Frank  Page  also  found  a  wife  while  in  Cumber- 
land, the  granddaughter  of  Mrs.  Barclay — Miss 
Catherine  Kaboteau — a  very  beautiful  young  lady, 
who,  though  her  home  was  in  Fayetteville,  spent 
much  of  the  time  with  her  grandmother.  It  Avas 
there  Mr.  Page  found  her. 

What  a  queenly  old  lady  was  Mrs.  Barclay,  and 
what  a  popular  place  was  her  house  with  travelers ! 
From  New  York  to  New  Orleans  she  was  known 
and  her  house  praised.  She  served  the  best  coffee, 
the  most  delicious  fried  chicken,  the  sweetest  but- 
ter, the  richest  milk,  and  the  best  biscuits — in  short, 
it  Avas  said  she  served  the  best  of  everything  that 
(^ould  be  had  in  those  days,  anywhere  on  the  stage 
line.     As  a  boy,  I  knew  how  well  I  loved  to  go  there. 


310  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Mrs.  Eaboteau  was  her  eldest  daughter.  Mrs.  C.  C. 
Barbee,  mother  of  Messrs.  Ed.  and  Claude  Barbee, 
of  this  city,  was  her  second,  and  Miss  Leocadia,  now 
living  with  her  nephew,  Mr.  Ed.  Barbee,  was  the 
youngest  daughter. 

I  picked  up,  the  other  day,  a  catalogue  of  the  Ral- 
eigh Female  Seminary,  of  the  session  1871-'2 — 
thirty-three  years,  or,  one-third  of  a  century  ago. 
The  Board  of  Trustees  were :  Rev.  T.  H.  Pritchard, 
D.D.,  President;  R.  S.  Pullen,  John  G.  Williams, 
Col.  J.  M.  Heck,  Maj.  A.  M.  Lewis,  P.  F.  Pescud, 
Maj.  W.  W.  Yass,  W.  G.  Upchurch,  L.  H.  Adams, 
Thos.  H.  Briggs,  F.  P.  Hobgood,  James  Poteat, 
Rev.  J.  S.  Purefoy,  B.  P.  Williamson,  Rev.  H.  Len- 
non.  Rev.  J.  D.  Hufham,  Rev.  J.  B.  Stewart,  Capt. 
J.  F.  Marsh,  Capt.  R.  D.  Graham,  W.  T.  Faircloth, 
Hon.  D.  S.  Reid  and  Col.  J.  T.  Morehead.  Twenty- 
two  in  all.  Of  that  number,  two-thirds,  if  not  more, 
are  dead.  Their  names  and  faces,  once  so  familiar, 
are  almost  forgotten,  in  the  places  where,  but  a 
little  while  ago,  everybody  knew  them.  We  older 
people  remember  them,  and  cherish  the  recollections 
of  the  days  when  they  were  with  us,  and,  by  their 
upright  lives  and  well-directed  efforts,  were  mak- 
ing it  possible  for  the  generation  following  to  be 
wiser,  better  and  happier  than  they.  It  is  a  sad 
commentary  upon  the  gratitude  of  a  church  or  a 
community,  to  say  that,  the^^  do  not  hold  in  proper 
reverence  those  who  planted  the  trees  which  are 
bearing  such  delicious  fruit.  The}^  pluck  and  eat, 
yet  forget  that  love  and  sacrifice  planted  the  trees 
which  yield  the  fruit,  they  so  much  enjoy. 

Thirty-three  years  ago  school  facilities  were  mea- 
gre as  compared  to  those  of  to-day.  St.  Mary's, 
the  Raleigh  Female  Seminary,  and  the  Raleigh  ]Male 
Academy,  were  the  schools  we  had.  I  don't  think 
Peace  Institute  had  been  opened;  if  it  had,  it  had 
not  acquired  such  notoriety,  as  a  first-class  institu- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  311 

lion,  as  it  now  enjoys.  At  any  rate,  what  I  have 
said  is  true ;  school  facilities  thirty-three  years  ago, 
were  meagre,  as  coini^ared  with  Avhat  we  noAV  have. 
And  Avliy  are  we  so  blessed  to-day?  Because  those 
who  planned  and  labored  then,  planned  and  labored 
for  this  generation  as  Avell  as  for  the  times  in 
which  they  lived.  Like  true  philanthropists,  they 
did  not  exhaust  all  their  love,  in  the  selfish  effort 
to  bless  themselves  and  their  children;  but,  in  imi- 
tation of  Him  whose  gospel  is  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most, in  all  ages,  they  labored  to  bless  the  unborn 
as  Avell  as  those  who  were  living.  The  Baptist  Uni- 
versity for  Women,  with  all  of  its  fine  advantages, 
is  the  natural  outcome  of  the  Kaleigh  Female  Semi- 
nary. True,  it  did  not  come  at  once;  but,  it  did 
ccune,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  because  the  seeds  had 
been  sown,  in  former  years. 

As  I  run  my  eyes  over  the  names  of  the  student 
body,  I  am  saddened  at  seeing  so  many  that  have 
been  erased  by  the  hand  of  death.  Thirty-three 
years  ago  they  were  budding  into  girlhood  and  ma- 
turing into  young  womanhood,  so  full  of  happy  an- 
ticipations, of  an  exfjected  long  life;  but,  one  by 
one,  they  were  cut  down  and  withered  as  the  grass, 
and  to-day  they  are  forgotten,  except  by  near  rela- 
tives. 


312  WHITAKEli'S    KEMIXLSCEXCES, 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Dr.  McKee^s  Fine  Horse — Br.  Edwards'  Preaching 
Before  Henry  Clay — ''The  Iron  WheeV' — Mr. 
William  Holland — Col.  John  A.  Fagg. 

Dr.  William  H.  McKee  was,  when  I  was  a  boy, 
the  most  popular  physician  that  practiced  in  the 
country  south  of  Raleigh,  and  he  rode  a  fine,  high- 
spirited  horse  that  was  as  Avell  known  as  the  Doctor. 
Be  was  as  black  as  a  croAv,  and  was  always  so  well 
gi-oomed  that  he  fairly  glittered  in  the  sunshine, 
and  it  was  said  that  Bennett  Rowland's  wife  de- 
clared, time  and  again,  that  a  sight  of  that  horse 
was  just  as  good  medicine  as  she  wanted.  The 
Doctor  was  a  fine  rider  and  his  horse  was  a  splendid 
traveler;  and  so,  an  hour  Avas  about  as  long  as  it 
took  them  to  make  ten  or  twelve  miles,  when  the 
roads  were  good.  By  the  time  the  Doctor  threw 
his  foot  over,  and  settled  himself  in  the  saddle,  his 
horse  pitched  off  into  a  gallop,  and  that  was  his 
gait,  nearly  all  the  time. 

On  a  parade  the  Doctor's  black  horse  ahvays  at- 
tracted as  much  attention  and  admiration  as  his 
rider;  for,  he  seemed  to  be  conscious  of  his  beauty 
and  of  his  graceful  movements,  and  the  boys  de- 
clared that  he  was  too  proud  to  be  a  horse.  It 
seemed  so,  for  sometimes  it  looked  as  if  he  Avanted 
to  AA^alk  like  a  man;  rising  on  his  hind  feet  and 
standing  almost  erect,  he  stepped  as  proudly  and 
carried  himself  as  gracefully  as  if  he  had  been  a 
man;  a  major-general  at  that.  I  think  it  was  in  a 
Fourth  of  July  parade  that  Col.  Duncan  K.  Mc- 
Rae  rode  the  Doctor's  horse,  and  an  incident  oc- 
curred that  might  have  been  serious.  Old  Black 
Avas  in  his  best  feathers  that  day,  shoAviug  in  every 
moA^ement  that  he  felt  the  importauce  of  the  occa- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  313 

sion,  aucl  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that  hundreds 
of  eyes  were  watching  him.  He  pranced,  he  snorted, 
he  reared,  and  then  he  would  loaw  the  ground  and 
champ  his  bit.  Colonel  McRae  didn't  seem  to  be 
enjoying  the  horse's  fun,  and  showed  his  impatience 
by  jerking  the  reins  a  time  or  tAvo.  The  horse  re- 
sented it  by  rearing  up,  and,  I  suppose,  being  mad, 
he  reared  too  high,  and  over  he  came.  How  the 
Colonel  escaped  a  crushing,  the  by-standers  could 
not  tell ;  but,  so  it  was,  neither  rider  nor  horse  was 
hurt.  In  a  moment  the  Colonel  was  again  on  his 
back,  and  the  horse,  as  well  as  the  Colonel,  seemed 
to  be  quieted  down,  and  less  disposed  to  make  a 
show. 

Just  now  it  occurs  to  my  mind  that  Key.  Jolm  E. 
Edwards  was  stationed  at  Eden  ton  Street  ]M.  E. 
Church,  when  Henry  Clay  visited  Raleigh  in  1844, 
and  that  Mr.  Clay  heard  him  preach.  It  was  said, 
for  I  was  not  present,  that  Mr.  Clay  looked  like  one 
dazed  as  the  words  flew  from  the  preacher's  lips, 
red-hot  with  fervor,  and  with  a  rapidity  that  made 
it  almost  impossible  for  a  man  to  catch  his  breath, 
as  he  hung  upon  an  oratory  that  flashed  and  spar- 
kled, and  painted  rainbows  in  the  heavens,  and 
pictures  of  matchless  beauty  taken  from  Nature's 
most  enrapturing  scenes;  that  tore  through  the 
forest  like  a  whilrwind,  uprooting  trees  and  even 
tearing  from  their  beds  of  moss  and  ivy,  the  old 
rocks  which  for  ages  had  slept  on  mountain  crags; 
that,  on  the  wings  of  love  and  peace,  translated  a 
soul  from  the  sorrows  and  afflictons  of  a  turbulent 
life  to  that  fair  home  of  eternal  happiness  and 
blessedness  where  the  Son  of  God  will  say,  as  each 
enraptured  soul  catches  a  first  glimpse  of  the  Celes- 
tial City,  "Come,  ye  blessed  of  My  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation 
of  the  world." 

I  say  Mr.  Clay  was  dazed  at  the  preacher's  rapid- 


314  avhitaker'8  reminiscences, 

ity  of  speech,  and  most  of  all  at  the  beauty  of  his 
imagery  and  the  eloquence  of  his  diction;  for  no 
man  had  a  better  use  of  language  than  he.  I  have 
heard  it  said  that  Mr.  Clay  pronounced  him  to  be 
a  great  preacher.  But  he  told  some  one,  while 
here,  he  did  not  enjoy  the  preaching  of  old  Peter 
Cartwright  so  well,  for  the  reason  that  one  could 
smell  brimstone  while  he  was  preaching. 

Some  of  our  Baptist  friends  will  remember  that 
Bey.  J.  E.  Graves,  a  distinguished  Baptist  preacher, 
wrote  and  published  a  book,  in  the  early  fifties,  en- 
titled ''The  Iron  Wheel.''  It  was  a  caricature  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  representing  the  church  by 
a  big  wheel  that  turned  all  the  little  wheels,  and 
made  the  point,  as  I  remember,  that  the  Methodist 
Church  had  no  independence,  but  had  to  run  as  the 
big  wheel  turned  it,  etc. 

I  didn't  like  that  book,  for  it  raised  bad  blood, 
and  complicated  things  very  much,  in  the  circle  in 
which  I  was  then  having  a  good  time.  There  were, 
in  those  days,  some  as  pretty  Baptist  girls  in  Bal- 
eigh  as  any  town  could  boast  of,  and  I  had  already 
formed,  if  not  expressed  the  opinion,  that  I  was 
Ijking  some  of  them  well  enough  to  have  serious  in- 
tentions, and  things  were  looking  hopeful,  until 
Graves  wrote  that  "Iron  Wheel."  I  had  not  exactly 
moved  my  membershii)  to  the  Baptist  church,  but 
I  had  joined  the  choir,  and  attended  all  the  choir 
practices,  and  prayer-meetings,  and  so  forth.  But, 
when  the  ''Iron  Wheel"  rolled  in  it  produced  con- 
sternation in  the  ranks,  and  I  was  very  much  set 
back.  My  voice,  Avhich,  aforetime,  had  blended  so 
harmoniously  and  sweetly,  as  I  thought,  v^ith  some 
other  voices  that  I  was  so  fond  of  hearing,  got  out 
of  tune,  and  I  came  very  near  to  leaving  the  choir. 
But  a  few  weeks  sufficed  to  roll  that  "Wheel"  out 
of  sight,  and  appearances  were  getting  better,  and 
the  sky  was  clearing,  considerably;    and  I  did  not 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  315 

see  why  the  whole  matter  might  not  soou  be  forgot- 
ten. And  it  woukl  have  been  had  not  AYilliam  G. 
Brownlow  written  a  reply  to  the  ''Iron  Wheel," 
and  stirred  things  up  worse  than  ever.  I  never 
read  either  book,  but  I  did  look  at  the  pictures,  and 
judging  the  books  by  the  pictures,  I  expect  both  of 
them  were  full  of  ''hot  stuff,"  not  very  well  calcu- 
lated to  increase  piety. 

How  the  denominations  did  bite  and  kick  each 
other,  in  the  olden  time!  I  have  listened  to  ser- 
mons two  hours  long,  that,  from  beginning  to  end- 
ing, abused  other  denominations,  and  made  them 
out  w^orse  than  thieves  and  murderers.  But  a  better 
day  has  dawned  on  the  Christian  world,  and  unless 
you  know  what  church  you  are  going  to,  you  can't 
tell,  while  the  preacher  is  telling  the  story  of  the 
Cross,  whether  he  is  a  disciple  of  Wesley,  Calvin, 
Knox  or  Roger  Williams,  or  belongs  to  the  church 
that  claims  Apostolic  Succession.  It  makes  but 
little  difference  where  one  goes  to  church,  he  will 
be  sure  to  hear  a  gospel  sermon.  I  am  glad  that  it 
is  so,  for  I  have  long  since  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  all  the  people  of  any  church  are  not  good,  but 
there  are  good  people  in  all  of  the  churches,  and 
that  Peter  got  it  right  when  he  said,  "Of  a  truth,  I 
perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but 
in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him  and  worketh 
righteousness  is  accepted  with  Him." 

William  Holland,  an  Englishman,  whose  dust  is 
sleeping  in  an  old  field  ten  miles  south  of  Raleigh, 
was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  left  enough  money  to 
build  three  churches,  to-wit:  Holland's,  a  Metho- 
dist church,  on  the  Cary  Circuit,  about  eight  miles 
south  of  Raleigh ;  Pleasant  Springs,  about  the  same 
distance  southwest,  and  Middle  Creek,  about  twelve 
miles  southeast  of  Raleigh.  I  attended  all  these 
churches  in  my  boyhood,  and  many  are  the  recollec- 
tions that  a  mention  of  them  calls  up,  and  many 


316  WHITAKEIi'S    KEMIXISCEXCES, 

forms  and  faces  so  well  remembered  are  brought 
into  being  again.  But  they  have  all  passed  over  the 
river,  and  the  shadoAvy  forms  I  see,  as  I  close  my 
eyes  and  think,  are  but  the  memories  of  other  days 
A\  hen  they  and  life  were  very  real. 

Mr.  Holland  Avas  a  good  man,  and  the  money  he 
invested  in  the  building  of  churches  was  well  spent. 
For  a  hundred  years  the  people  near  those  churches 
have  enjoyed  the  gospel  because  he  built  them 
Iiouses  to  worship  in.  If  I  could  call  up  the  hun- 
dreds who  have  lived  and  died  since  that  old  Eng- 
lishman gave  his  money,  they  would  with  one  voice 
bless  his  memory.  What  a  pity  that  Mark  Hanna 
did  not  give  a  few  hundred  dollars,  out  of  the  mil- 
lions he  could  not  take  with  him,  to  some  benevo- 
lent purpose.  It  would  have  been  an  evergreen  to 
his  memory. 

Come  to  think  of  it,  there  is  no  pleasure  in  dying 
rich,  for  one  has  to  leave  it  all;  and,  as  Solomon 
said,  one  can't  tell  whether  a  wise  man  or  a  fool  is 
to  step  in  and  take  what  he  must  part  with  in  the 
death  hour. 

While  that  is  true,  men  love  money  so  well  they 
like  to  see  it  coming  in  until  death  knocks  at  the 
door.  A  very  prominent  man  died  in  this  State  a 
few  years  ago,  who  had  an  eje  to  business  to  the 
last.  He  had  a  pile  of  luml3er  in  his  yard,  and 
knowing  that  he  must  die  in  a  few  da^^s,  he  sent 
for  a  neighbor  to  come  over  and  take  it  off  his 
hands.  The  neighbor  did  not  need  the  lumber,  so 
did  not  care  to  buy.  But  the  dying  man  insisted : 
'^I  am  so  anxious  to  get  the  money ;  I'll  take  half  the 
value  of  the  lumber  for  it."  The  trade  was  made, 
and  the  sinking  man  put  the  money  under  his  pil- 
loAv  and  died.  A  minister  preached  his  funeral, 
and  the  only  good  thing  he  could  say  of  the  de- 
parted was  that  in  his  young  days,  when  he  was  a 
miller,  he  could  carry  six  bushels  of  wheat  on  his 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


317 


shoulders  up  the  steps  iuto  the  mill;  while  as  a 
Avrestler,  no  one,  white  or  black,  could  throw  him. 
That's  about  what  politicians  used  to  say  of  Mark 
Hanna.     Nobody,  white  or  black,  could  throw  him. 
How  the  mind  leaps  from  one  scene  to  another. 
1  never  saw  Mark  Hanna;  but,  somehow,  whenever 
I  have  seen  his  picture,  another,  whom  I  used  to 
know,  would  rise  up  before  me.     Hon.  W.  T.  Dortch 
was   Speaker  of   the   House,  and   I   was   Reading 
Clerk.     To  my  left,  but  almost  in  front,  sat  Col. 
John  A.  Fagg,  whose  form  and  face,  as  well  as  gen- 
eral  appearance,   have   ahvays   flashed  before   me 
when  looking  on  Mark  Hanna's  picture.     He  was 
the  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  North  Carolina  regi- 
ment that  served  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  when  I 
knew  him  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons 
ii-om  Buncombe  county,  he  was  as  pompous  as  if  he 
had  been  old  Winfield  Scott,  himself,  but  a  jolly 
good  fellow  all  the  same.     One  day  he  rose  and  said 
in  measured  tones :   "Mr.  Speaker,  I  ask  the  privi- 
lege of  offering  a  resolution.'' 

"Send  forward  the  resolution,"  the  Speaker  re- 
plied.    "The  Clerk  will  read." 

I  looked  at  the  writing,  but,  to  save  my  life,  I 
could  not  make  out  a  single  word,  and  so  stated 
to  the  speaker. 

"The  Clerk  says  he  can  not  read  the  resolution. 
Will  the  gentleman  from  Buncombe  please  come 
forward  and  read  it?" 

With  an  air  that  well  befitted  a  lieutenant-colo- 
nel, he  strode  down  the  aisle,  and  snatched  the 
paper  from  mv  hand,  giving  me  at  the  same  time  a 
withering  look,  of  which  contempt  and  pity  were 
about  of  equal  proportion. 

He  looked  at  it,  but,  did  not  read.  He  adjusted 
his  glasses  and  looked  again,  but,  did  not  say  a 
word.  Members  all  over  the  hall  began  to  guy  him, 
by  saying :  "Read  louder !     We  can't  hear  you  over 


318  whitaker's 

here!  Put  on  some  more  specks  I  O,  he's  about 
Fagg-ed  out  I''  The  House  was  in  an  uproar.  The 
Speaker  rapped,  and  said:  "Colonel  Fagg,  they 
don't  seem  to  hear  you;  please  read  louder." 

"I'm  not  reading  at  all,  Mr.  Speaker.  This  is 
not  my  resolution.  Some  gentleman  from  over  be- 
hind me  asked  me  to  introduce  it,  and,  without  look- 
ing at  it,  I  did  so."  The  Colonel  was  furious,  and 
said,  as  he  walked  back  to  his  seat,  something  about 
getting  even  with  the  rascal ;  but,  if  he  did,  I  never 
heard  of  it.  He  was  not  half  so  consequential  after 
that  as  he  had  been  before.  Especially  was  he  very 
Ijolite  to  the  Eeading  Clerk.  There  was  no  writing 
on  that  paper — simply  "pot  hooks  and  hen's 
scratches,"  so  the  Colonel  said. 

As  a  wind-up,  I'll  give  the  reader  a  laughable 
incident  I  heard  the  Rev.  Thos.  S.  Campbell  tell  my 
father,  when  I  was  a  boy,  that  happened  in  a  church 
in  which  there  was  preaching,  one  night.  To  light 
the  church,  the  peoi)le  of  the  community  had  made 
a  sort  of  Avooden  chandelier,  that  had  on  it  a  half 
dozen  or  more  tallow  candles.  Those  candles  had 
to  be  snuffed  once  or  twice  during  a  service,  if  not 
oftener,  and  the  old  sexton  who  attended  to  that 
business,  used  a  step-ladder  to  reach  the  chandelier. 
Every  now  and  then  he  Avould  take  his  step-ladder 
and  tip-toe  to  the  chandelier,  that  hung  over  the 
aisle,  cautioush^  step  up,  and,  with  snuffers  in  hand, 
he  would  trim  the  wicks;  and  then,  as  noiselessly, 
he  would  tip-toe  back  to  his  seat.  The  text,  from 
which  the  preacher  was  preaching  a  very  drowsy 
sermon,  that  hot  summer  evening,  was :  "Escape 
for  thy  life."  There  Avas  a  bench  right  in  front  of 
the  pulpit,  on  which  the  oldest  steward  generally 
sat,  that  he  might  be  able  to  see  what  Avas  going  on, 
and  at  the  same  time  be  in  close  touch  with  the 
preacher.  On  that  occasion  he  had  thrown  his 
head  back  against  the  pulpit,  piously  closed  his 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  319 

eyes,  and  was  either  in  profound  thought  or  fast 
asleep.     The  old  sexton  saw  the  candles  Avere  burn- 
ing dimly,  and  soon  he  was  on  the  step-ladder  snuf- 
tino'  them.     In  reaching  to  trim  the  farthest  candle, 
lie  lost  his  balance,  and  over  he  and  the  step-ladder 
went,  in  a  heap,  making  a  terrible  noise.     He  wore 
Avhat  was  called  ^^lip-britches,"  with  no  suspenders; 
and  in  the  fall  the  string  or  button  that  kept  them 
in  position,  broke,  and  down  they  dropped.     The 
sleeping  steward,  startled  by  the  fall,  opened  his 
eyes  in  fright,  and  seeing  the  chandelier  swaying 
to  and  fro,  cried  out :  ''It's  an  earthquake  I    It's  an 
earthquake  I    It's  an  earthquake  I''    The  old  sexton, 
seeing  he  was  about  to  lose  his  pants,   gathered 
them   by   the  waistband   and  hurried   toward  the 
door,     the  preacher,  forgetting  what  he  was  say- 
ing, in  the  midst  of  the  confusion,  could  only  think 
to  say :   ''Escape  for  thy  life  I     Escape  for  thy  life  I 
Escape  for  thy  life  I"    "^The  congregation,  thinking 
the  preacher  included  all,  made  haste  to  follow  the 
sexton,  and  escaped  for  their  lives.     The  house  was 
soon  empty,  and,  as  the  sexton  couldn't  fasten  up 
his  pants  to  return,  the  preacher  had  to  blow  out 
the  lights.     I  didn't  witness  that  scene,  but  it  seems 
just  as  real  as  if  I  had  seen  it  all,  though  it  has 
been  all  of  fifty  years  since  I  heard  the  preacher 
tell  the  story. 


320  VrHITAKEIi'S    REMINISCENCES, 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

Farmi)ig,  and  Some  Other  Tilings — Flowing  a  Male 
That  Brayed. 

Some  people  who  read  the  article  on  the  falling 
Of  the  stars  in  1833,  and  what  "Old  Bob"  said 
about  their  heat,  didn't  believe  a  word  of  it,  of 
course;  I  did  not  expect  them  to  believe  it.  But, 
now  here  comes  a  postal  card  from  Mr.  O.  R.  Rand, 
of  Smithfieid,  which  tells  me  that  on  the  night  of 
the  star-falling,  a  company  of  farmers,  who  were 
on  their  way  to  Raleigh  and  were  camping  out,  told 
]iis  grandfather,  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  G.  Rand,  that 
a  big  star  (it  must  have  been  "Old  Bob's''  big  A) 
fell  in  the  top  of  a  pine  tree  and  set  it  on  fire. 
Now,  what  has  the  reader  to  say?  Old  Bob  said 
they  sizzed  like  putting  hot  iron  into  a  tub  of  water, 
and  the  farmers  saw  a  tree  set  on  fire.  The  only 
solution  of  the  matter  is,  some  people  have  very 
vivid  imaginations,  when  they  are  excited ;  and  that 
star-falling  was,  of  course,  very  exciting. 

The  good  crops  I  see,  as  I  go  up  and  down: — 
Corn,  cotton,  peas,  and  potatoes,  make  me  think 
of  "  'fore  de  war."  The  corn  crop  could  not  be 
any  better;  therefore,  hog  and  hominy  is  a  cer- 
tainty, judging  by  the  present  outlook,  while  a  big 
cotton  crop  is  the  expectation;  and  the  farmers 
are  hoping  the  price  will  be  as  good  as  the  crop. 
Tobacco  don't  figure  much  in  the  east,  where  last 
year  it  was  the  most  important  cro^).  I  suggested, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  it  would  be  safer  to 
plant  both  tobacco  and  cotton,  and  not  rely  solely 
on  one  crop.  Some  have  done  this ;  but  most  of  the 
eastern  farmers  threw  up  tobacco  entirely,  and  are 
depending  upon  their  cotton.  I  hope  they  may  get 
a  good  price  for  it,  and  may  not  have  to  regret 
tlieir  one-crop  policy. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  321 

I  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and  began  to  plow  when 
I  was  so  small  my  head  was  not  very  much  above 
the  handles  of  the  old  shaft  plow.  I  was  not 
strong  enough  nor  heavy  enough  to  keep  the  hoe  in 
the  ground,  so  my  father  would  put  a  big  rock  on 
the  beam  of  the  plow  between  the  shafts,  and  my 
work  was  simply  to  guide  the  plow.  I  have  never 
seen  the  day  that  I  felt  bigger  than  I  did  when  I 
hitched  "Old  Blaze"  to  the  plow  and  went  forth 
into  the  field  as  a  plow  boy.  I  felt  like  I  was  a 
man,  sure  enough,  and  just  then  I  would  not  have 
exchanged  positions  with  any  king  upon  his  throne. 
But  it  did  not  take  many  days  to  change  my  opinion 
of  things.  As  the  spring  days  grew  longer,  and  the 
sun's  rays  grew  stronger,  and  the  ground  became 
harder,  and  the  grass  grew  faster,  I  began  to  think 
I  was  too  little,  and  to  wish  I  had  not  been  so  anx- 
ious about  starting  in  the  plowing  business.  But 
I  was  into  it,  and  my  father  bragged  so  much  on  me 
and  my  good  ploAving,  I  had  to  stick  to  it.  I  never 
see  a  little  boy  who  is  anxious  to  begin  plowing  that 
I  don't  feel  sorry  for.  I  know  just  how  ambitious 
the  little  fellow  feels  to  get  a  hold  on  the  plow 
handles  and  be  a  "little  man,"  and  I  know  just 
how  he  will  feel,  soon  after,  when  all  that  ambition 
has  sweated  out  of  him,  and  how  he'll  wish  that 
plows  had  never  been  invented. 

"Old  Blaze"  and  the  shaft-plow  passed  away, 
and  in  course  of  time  I  was  promoted;  had  a  trace 
plow  and  a  big  mule  to  pull  it.  In  addition  to  that 
uprise,  my  father  bought  me  a  saddle,  bridle,  and 
martingales ;  and  on  Sunday,  mounted  on  my  mule, 
the  kings  of  old,  who  rode  mules,  never  felt  their 
importance  more  than  did  I,  going  to  church  on  my 
mule.  The  only  draw-back  in  riding  a  mule  is,  he 
A^ill  bray  when  he  sees  other  animals ;  and  my  mule 
was  no  exception.  And  when  he  brayed,  he  brayed 
for  sure  enough.  I  don't  think  there  are  manv  en- 
21 


322 


\yhitaker's  reminiscences, 


The  mule  I  used  to  plow  «  hen  a  boy. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  323 

gines  on  the  Southern  Eailroad  that  could  have 
niaae  more  noise,  or  outwinded  him,  when  he  brayed 
his  ^'station  bray''  at  the  church.  It  would  do  no 
good  to  hit  him  over  the  head  with  a  stick ;  he'd  have 
his  bray  out  before  he  quit.  I  drove  that  mule  to 
Raleigh  once,  and  he  alarmed  the  city ;  at  least  that 
portion  of  it  we  traversed.  I  came  up  Fayetteville 
street  in  fine  style,  for  he  was  a  fine  looking  mule 
and  traveled  like  a  reindeer,  and  was  making  his 
best  time  when  I  was  passing  the  court-house.  I 
saw  a  parcel  of  young  men  and  two  or  three  young 
ladies  sitting  on  the  piazza  of  the  "Lawrence  Ho- 
tel," which  stood  where  the  post-office  is,  and  I  was 
just  in  the  act  of  tipping  my  hat  to  them,  when  all 
of  a  sudden  my  mule  slacked  up  and  brayed  a  salute 
that  not  only  attracted  the  attention  of  the  young 
people,  but  even  brought  old  Captain  Lawrence  and 
Mrs.  Lawrence  to  the  door,  to  see  what  was  the 
matter. 

I  was  plowing  that  mule  while  the  Mexican  War 
was  going  on;  and,  the  way  he  could  tear  up  the 
dogwood  roots,  in  a  new  ground,  was  a  caution  to 
my  shins.  Any  one  who  has  ever  plowed  in  a  new 
ground  will  remember  how  the  roots  flew  back  and 
almost  broke  his  shins  when  he  didn't  jump  in  time. 
I  thought,  as  I  followed  that  mule  and  jumped 
roots,  and,  every  now  and  then,  had  a  handle  to  fly 
up  and  hit  me  under  the  chin,  that  fighting  Mexi- 
cans would  be  an  easy  job  compared  with  plowing, 
and  not  a  bit  more  dangerous.  So,  when  I  read  of 
that  dashing  charge  made  by  Captain  May's  dra- 
goons at  Eesaca  de  la  Palma,  I  felt  just  like  volun- 
teering and  going  to  the  front.  But,  I  was  too 
young,  and  my  father  said  I'd  better  stick  to  my 
plowing,  and  I  did ;  though,  no  boy  of  my  age  took 
a  deeper  interest  than  I  in  the  movements  of  Tay- 
lor's camj)aign  from  Point  Isabel  to  Buena  Vista. 
I'd  plow  the  mule  by  day  and  read  the  war  news 
at  night ;  so  I  was  running  a  double  campaign. 


324  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

How  things  are  changed  since  niy  boyhood  days, 
when  "new  grounds'^  were  cleared  every  winter,  and 
what  timber  we  did  not  need  to  fence  the  new 
grounds  was  rolled  into  heai3s  and  burned.  Now, 
we  are  needing  that  wood,  and  we'll  need  it  more 
and  more  as  the  years  go  by.  Unless  we  allow 
some  of  the  old  fields  to  grow  up,  our  country  will 
soon  be  so  barren  of  timber  that  building  with 
wood  will  be  costly  indeed.  But,  I  suppose  brick 
and  mortar  will  always  be  plentiful ;  so,  we'll  have 
houses,  timber  or  no  timber. 

Farming  is  so  different  and  so  much  easier  now 
than  when  I  was  a  boy.  There  are  no  rooty  new 
grounds  now;  even  the  old  stumps  have  been  taken 
up,  so  that  a  plow,  in  a  day's  run,  will  not  hitch  a 
root.  And  great  big  turning  plows,  drawn  by  two 
or  four  mules,  can  spin  around  a  field  and  do  the 
work  of  a  half  dozen  of  the  old-time  plows;  and 
one  man  can  do  the  work  of  a  half  dozen,  and  don't 
have  to  follow  his  plow,  but  sit  up  on  a  sulky  seat, 
^\ith  an  umbrella  over  him  to  keep  off  the  sun  or 
t]ie  shower,  and  read  his  newspaper. 

We  used  to  run  seven  furrows  in  a  corn  row  and 
five  in  a  cotton  row.  Now,  with  the  improved 
plows  and  sweeps,  two  or  three  at  most  are  enough. 
In  a  few  years  it  may  be  found  cheaper  to  use  small 
engines  instead  of  horses  and  mules  for  plowing; 
and  then,  going  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  a 
fellow  with  the  steam  ploAv  can  do  all  the  plowing 
for  a  neighborhood.  Yes,  things  have  changed 
greatly  in  fifty  years;  but  greater  changes  will  take 
place  in  the  next  fifty,  on  the  farm. 

I  heard  a  sermon  not  long  since  on  Charit}^,  and 
the  preacher  laid  much  emphasis  on  that  clause 
which  tells  us  that  Charity  "is  not  easily  provoked," 
and  he  went  on  to  say  that  bad  tempers  were  de- 
stroying more  peace  and  producing  more  unhappi- 
ness  in  the  world  than  anvthinoj  else.     He  said  a 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  325 

great  many  people  who  think  they  are  Christians, 
are  not  only  easily  provoked,  but  are  just  as  provok- 
ing themselves,  as  the  devil  would  have  them  be; 
and  the  worst  of  it  is,  he  said,  they  think  they  are 
pious,  when  they  are  only  pouting,  and  are  growing 
in  grace  when  they  are  hating  their  neighbors,  and 
speaking  evil  of  them.  In  short,  he  went  on  to  say, 
in  much  of  the  religion  of  this  materialistic  age, 
there  is  no  such  ingredient  as  that  Charity  which 
^'thinketh  no  evil,"  and  "is  not  easily  provoked"; 
but  too  much  of  that  so-called  charity  which  busies 
itself  with  the  task  of  getting  motes  out  of  other 
people's  eyes  while  beams  are  in  their  own  eyes,  big 
enough  for  saw-logs. 

Perhaps  he  went  a  little  too  far  in  that  last  re- 
mark; but,  it  is  true,  nevertheless,  that  human  na- 
ture sees  very  little  that  is  good  or  praiseworthy  in 
the  other  person ;  but,  is  partial  to  and  very  liberal 
in  iDraise  of  self.  And  what,  in  the  other  person, 
would  be  outrageous,  in  self  is  all  right  and  iDroper. 

It  takes  lots  of  grace  to  make  a  decent  character 
out  of  our  warped  and  twisted  human  nature.  In 
our  littleness,  and  peevishness,  and  upishness,  we 
do  so  many  ungentlemanly  and  unwomanly  things 
— say  so  many  unkind  and  unchristian  things  about 
others,  we  can  but  be  disgusted  with  ourselves,  if 
we  take  but  a  single  look  at  our  record,  in  the  light 
of  common  sense.  If  the  average  human  being  will 
be  honest  enough  to  take  a  truthful  inventory  of 
his  life,  and  proi3erly  classify  the  acts  thereof,  he 
will  be  astonished  to  see  how  ugly  he  is,  and  what 
little  account  he  is  and  has  been  in  the  world.  The 
great  Apostle  well  said:  "If  a  man  think  himself 
to  be  something  when  he  is  nothing,  he  deceiveth 
himself."  How  many  of  us  are  doing  that  very 
thing!  Some  one  has  facetiously  said:  "If  men 
could  buy  themselves  at  what  they  are  really  worth, 
and  sell  themselves  at  what  thev  think  tliev  are 


326  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

worth,  the  world  would  soon  be  filled  with  million- 
aires.'' 

He  is  a  wise  man,  indeed,  who  knows  himself, 
and  he  is  a  strong  man,  indeed,  who  can  control 
himself,  and  make  himself  do  the  clean  thing  at  all 
times  and  under  all  circumstances.  Peter  thought 
he  knew  himself  when  he  boast ingly  said  to  the 
Master:  "Though  all  men  should  be  offended  be- 
cause of  thee,  yet  w^ill  I  never  be  offended" ;  but  he 
didn't  know  himself  when  he  made  that  boast. 
When  put  to  the  test,  he  went  back  on  himself,  and 
acted  so  much  like  a  coward  that  he  actually  went 
out  in  the  darkness  and  cried  about  it.  No,  we 
don't  know  ourselves.  We  have  not  been  tested  at 
every  point.  We  may  have  stood  the  trials  we  have 
had,  but  at  some  other  point,  a  less  temptation  may 
cause  us,  like  Peter,  to  lie  and  to  swear. 

I  am  trying — indeed,  have  been  trying  for  nearly 
three-fourths  of  a  century — to  thoroughly  under- 
stand myself ;  but,  I  am  so  partial  and  so  lenient  to- 
ward self  I  find  it  difficult  to  be  as  stern  and  rigid 
in  my  work  as  I  would  be  if  I  had  the  other  fellow 
in  hand.  I'd  soon  find  out  what  he  was,  for  I'd 
send  the  probe  right  through  him.  I'd  pick  the 
splinter  out  of  his  foot  if  he  did  holler.  But,  some- 
how, I  can't  be  as  rough,  and  as  harsh,  and  as  hon- 
est in  the  examination  of  self.  When  it  begins  to 
hurt,  I  stop. 

Right  here  I  am  reminded  of  an  incident.  When 
preaching  on  the  Youngsville  circuit  some  years 
ago,  I  used  as  a  text  on  one  occasion :  "Let  a  man 
examine  himself,"  and  in  the  course  of  the  sermon 
I  remarked  that  a  man  had  better  be  honest  with 
himself — uncover  and  look  into  his  treacherous,  sin- 
ful heart;  get  out  all  the  filth  and  meanness  and 
have  a  thorough  washing  out  before  death  comes 
along  and  finds  him  too  vile  for  citizenship  in 
heaven,  and  he'll  have  to  take  up  his  abode  with  the 
vile  and  unclean. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  327 

The  next  day  an  old  gentleman  called  me  to  one 
side,  and  informed  me  that,  after  the  sermon  of  the 
day  before,  he  had  been  doing  his  best  to  examine 
himself;  but,  said  he,  ''every  time  I  took  the  tap 
off  and  tried  to  look  into  my  old  heart,  it  smelt  so 
rotten  and  looked  so  filthy,  I  couldn't  proceed  any 
farther.  I  can  dissect  other  folks,  but  I  must  be 
excused  from  probing  my  own  sores.''  Most  of  us 
are  ashamed  to  uncover  the  past  even  to  ourselves. 

It  is  said  that  a  corporal  was  required  to  tap  at 
the  tent  door  of  Philip  of  Macedon  each  morning, 
and  shout  at  the  top  of  his  voice :  ''Philip,  remember 
thou  art  mortal !"  Well  it  would  be  for  all  of  us,  if, 
in  everything  we  did,  we  could  feel  and  act  upon 
that  awful  fact— we  are  mortal,  and  that  our  mor- 
tality is  so  out  of  harmony  with  God  that  it  can  not 
be  reconciled  to  Him  except  by  faith  in  a  Saviour 
whose  perfections  are  imputed  only  to  those  who 
fall  out  with  and  loathe  their  sins.  To  do  that  we 
must  see  ourselves  as  we  are,  and  not  try  to  hide 
nor  palliate.  I  think  Oliver  Cromwell  did  a  very 
wise  and  praiseworthy  thing,  when  a  great  painter 
set  before  him  a  picture  of  himself  that  did  not  show 
a  very  ugly  wart  which  had  grown  on  Cromwell's 
face.  "I  see  but  one  defect  in  the  painting,"  said 
Cromwell  to  the  painter. 

"What  is  that?"  asked  the  painter,  in  distress. 

"You  have  failed  to  paint  my  wart." 

The  painter  tried  to  reason  with  him,  saying  how 
much  better  the  picture  looked  without  the  wart. 

"Without  the  wart,  that's  not  my  picture.  Let 
my  imperfections,  as  well  as  my  perfections,  be 
seen." 

And  so  the  wart  was  added. 


328  \YHITAKER'S    REMIXISCE^'CES, 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

Uncle  Ed.  Crews  and  his  Xice  Young  Preacher — 
The  Sister  Who  Wept  Under  Bro.  Sanctum's 
Good  Talk — Seymour  W.  Whiting. 

Uncle  Ed.  Crews,  who  lived  not  far  from  Dabney, 
on  the  Oxford  and  Henderson  Railroad,  and  who, 
\^hen  I  was  a  sojourner  in  Oxford  in  1893,  was  a 
most  prominent  character  in  Granville,  respected 
by  all,  once  had  an  experience  with  a  confidence 
man,  and  was  so  completely  deceived  by  him,  that, 
although  the  fellow  got  his  money,  he  couldn't  think 
he  was  a  rascal,  he  was  so  nice  looking. 

Before  proceeding  to  tell  the  story,  I  must  tell 
the  thousands  of  readers  something  about  Uncle 
Ed.  Crews. 

In  the  first  place,  he  was  a  large  man  physically, 
and  liked  to  have  large  things  about  him.  He  be- 
lieved in  large  ears  of  corn,  large  horses,  large  cows, 
large  hogs,  large  tobacco,  large  apples,  large  cab- 
bages, large  potatoes,  and  a  large  supply  of  some- 
tliing  good  to  eat  on  his  table,  and  by  no  means 
forgetting  to  have  a  large,  fat  pullet,  when  the  Meth- 
odist preacher  was  around.  And,  as  he  was  built 
on  a  large  scale,  he,  very  naturally,  had  a  large 
voice,  one  that  could  be  heard  a  mile  Avhen  giving 
directions  about  the  plantation,  and,  it  was  said, 
that  when,  as  he  sometimes  did,  he  would  go  to  the 
pulpit  and  whisper  something  to  the  preacher,  it 
could  be  heard  all  out  doors. 

He  was  always  in  a  good  humor,  and  being  a  very 
honest  man,  he  very  naturally  thought  everybody 
else  was  honest,  too;  hence,  he  was  not  suspicious, 
as  the  reader  will  discover  in  reading  the  following 
story. 

He  had  a  sister  living  in  Fremont  whom  he  had 
not  seen  for  some  time. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  329 

A  Fair  being  in  Weldon,  Uncle  Ed.  thought  he'd 
take  advantage  of  the  reduced  rates  and  go  to  see 
that  sister,  and  this  is  what  happened,  as  told  by 
himself : 

"While  I  was  waiting  round  under  the  shed  at 
Weldon,  for  the  Coast  Line  train,  a  great  crowd 
being  there  at  the  Fair,  a  nice  looking  young  man 
stumbled  up  against  me,  But  he  apologized  so 
nicely  that  I  Avas  taken  with  him — he  reminded  me 
so  much  of  our  nice  young  preachers,  just  from 
college,  that  I  couldn't  help  feeling  an  interest 
in  him.  Telling  him  where  I  was  going,  he  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  an  aunt  living  at  Fremont, 
whom  he  had  recently  visited,  and  that  his  aunt  had 
taken  him  to  see  my  sister.  I  was  really  glad,  then, 
that  I  had  met  him.  As  it  was  some  time  before 
my  train,  he  asked  me  to  go  up  and  sit  awhile  in 
bis  room  at  the  hotel.  Going  upstairs,  we  hap- 
pened to  get  into  the  wrong  room.  The  nice  young 
man,  with  apologies,  would  have  withdrawn,  but 
the  man  in  there  insisted  we  should  see  a  little 
game  he  was  playing  with  a  cup  and  some  balls; 
said  he  would  give  either  of  us  flO  if  we  could 
tell  which  cuj)  the  ball  was  under.  The  nice  young 
man  told  him,  and  he  made  him  take  the  |10.  The 
nice  young  man  said  he  would  bet  |20  he  could  tell 
again;  but,  I  tried  to  get  him  to  come  away.  He 
insisted,  however,  he  could  tell — and  from  that  he 
kept  on  playing,  first  gaining,  then  losing,  until 
he  lost  all  he  had,  and  nearly  all  I  had ;  mine  to  be 
returned,  however,  when  we  got  to  his  room.  The 
nice  young  man  tried  to  borrow  still  more  of  me, 
but  I  was  tired  of  seeing  him  taken  in  that  way, 
and  would  not  let  him  have  any  more;  and  being  a 
little  excited,  I  forgot  myself,  and  began  talking 
out  like  I  do  at  home.  The  rascal  begged  me  not 
to  talk  so  loud.  Seeing  he  was  afraid,  I  not  only 
talked  louder,  but  told  him  he  had  to  give  back  all 


330 

my  money  and  also  what  he  had  gotten  from  that 
nice  young  man;  talking  in  the  tone  I  use  at  home 
when  I  wish  to  say  something  to  the  boys  down  at 
the  stables.  The  rascal  went  down  on  his  knees, 
begging  me  to  hush;  and  the  nice  young  man  in- 
sisted I  should  not  so  disturb  myself,  as  he  would 
return  my  money  at  his  room,  and  he  deserved  to 
lose  it  for  his  folly.  But  I  was  mad.  I  told  the 
rascal  if  he  did  not  give  back  all  the  money  quick,  I 
^vould  go  to  the  window  and  alarm  the  town.  I  tell 
you  he  hustled  out  the  money  to  both  of  us  in  a 
hurry.  As  we  came  to  the  door,  the  people  in  the 
halls  were  asking  what  was  all  that  noise  about. 
That  rascal  told  them  it  was  the  showman  asking, 
out  on  the  streets,  "Have  you  seen  George  Practic- 
ing?" It  made  no  difference  what  the  rascal  said; 
our  money  was  in  our  pockets.  The  nice  young 
man  was  not  the  same  afterward.  He  appeared 
sad  and  depressed.  I  think  he  feared  I  would  tell 
his  aunt,  when  I  reached  Fremont,  that  he  had 
been  gambling.'' 

No;  Uncle  Ed.  could  not  be  made  to  believe  the 
"nice  young  man''  was  a  partner  in  the  attempt  to 
get  his  money,  but  thought  he  was  really  a  "nice 
young  man." 

To  people  who  are  expecting  to  find  a  rascal 
under  every  silk  hat,  and  an  impostor  under  every 
clerical  robe,  it  may  seem  strange  that  Uncle  Ed. 
didn't  suspect  that  nice  young  man.  But  to  Uncle 
Ed.,  who  walked  uprightly,  w^orked  righteousness, 
and  spake  the  truth  in  his  heart,  a  man  w^as  what 
he  seemed  to  be. 

Some  years  ago,  while  canvassing  Wake  county, 
the  candidates  were  invited  to  a  Sunday  school  pic- 
nic, some  eight  or  ten  miles  from  Raleigh.  Of 
course,  they  were  called  upon  for  speeches,  and 
several  responded.  Among  them  was  a  lawyer 
whose  habit  at  that  time  was  to  keep  about  half 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  331 

full,  and  in  that  condition  he  generally  had  watery 
eyes,  and  pulled  his  mouth  well  down  at  the  cor- 
ners; and,  withal,  wore  a  very  meek  countenance. 
Expecting  that  he  would  be  called  out,  he  slipped 
to  his  buggy  and  took  a  big  drink,  while  a  brother 
candidate  was  talking.  Sure  enough,  "Brother 
Sanctum''  was  called  next — yes,  the  superinten- 
dent, who  introduced  him,  called  him  "brother'' — 
and  "Sanctum"  he  surely  was.  "With  the  tears 
rolling  down  his  cheeks,  his  lips  trembling,  as  if 
overcome  by  deepest  emotion,  and  voice  all  aquiver, 
he  began  by  telling  how  many  sacred  recollections 
came  trooping  to  his  mind  as  he  had  witnessed  the 
exercises  of  that  day — thoughts  of  his  dear  old  fa- 
ther and  mother,  long  since  dead  and  gone;  (here 
he  wiped  his  eyes)  ;  of  his  beloved  Sunday  school 
teacher,  that  good  woman  who  first  taught  him 
the  Lord's  prayer,  and  to  reverence  the  Sabbath 
day,  also  dead  and  gone;  (wiped  his  eyes  again)  ;  of 
the  old  country  church,  very  much  like  that,  where 
he  first  heard  the  gospel  trumpet,  when  but  a  small 
boy ;  ah,  yes,  and  the  sweet  songs  they  used  to  sing, 
so  much  like  those  beautiful  ones  they  had  been 
singing;  and  a  thousand  other  precious  memories 
overwhelmed  him  to  that  degree,  he  had  to  stand 
for  a  moment  and  give  vent  to  his  feelings  in  sobs 
and  deep-drawn  sighs.  The  audience  wept.  How 
could  they  help  it.  Even  the  other  candidates  looked 
like  they  were  under  conviction,  and  the  scene  had 
more  the  appearance  of  a  funeral  than  a  Sunday 
school  picnic.  He  made  a  fine  speech.  It  brought 
forth  many  "Amens !"  during  its  delivery,  and  tre- 
mendous applause  at  its  close,  and  men,  women,  and 
even  children  gathered  around  the  speaker  to  thank 
him  for  his  "precious  good  talk."  One  sister  said : 
"I  want  to  shake  Brother  Sanctum's  hand  and  tell 
him  how  I  love  such  a  dear  good  man  as  he  is.  Yes, 
I  know  he's  a  good  man,  for  no  man  could  talk  like 


332  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

he  does  if  he  didn't  have  the  love  of  God  in  his 
heart.''  When  she  got  him  by  the  hand,  she  was 
heard  to  say:  ^'Brother  Sanctum,  I  wish  1  was  as 
good  as  YOU  are.  I  Avant  you  to  remember  me  in 
Your  prayers." 

He  promised  her  he  would,  and  I  guess  he  did; 
that  is,  if  he  ever  said  any.  It  is  hardly  probable 
he  said  any  that  night,  as  it  was  told  of  him  that, 
with  several  others,  he  played  cards  the  most  of 
that  night;  and,  a  merry  time  they  had  recounting 
the  events  of  the  picnic. 

The  good  sister  was  deceived  by  appearances  that 
time,  and,  as  for  that  matter,  so  were  the  others. 

Samuel  was  made  to  understand,  when  he  went 
to  anoint  the  future  King  of  Israel,  that  the  Lord 
looketh  not  upon  the  outward  man,  but  upon  the 
heart.  Real  ugliness  is  sin.  Real  deformity  is  a 
soul  out  of  harmony  with,  and  out  of  the  likeness 
of  God.  Real  beauty  is  a  Christly  life — modeled 
after  the  golden  rule. 

That  is  a  fearful  statement  made  by  St.  Paul  in 
the  eighth  chapter  of  Romans,  to-wit :  ^^The  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  it  is  not  subject  to  the 
law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be."  When  we  stop 
for  a  moment  and  consider  that  statement,  in  con- 
nection with  our  experiences,  we  are  bound  to  ad- 
mit its  truth,  fearful  and  humiliating  as  it  may  be; 
for  we  remember,  that,  in  our  past  lives,  we  have 
done  thousands  of  things  we  ought  not  to  have  done, 
and  left  as  many  undone  which  we  ought  to  have 
done.  Referring  to  the  natural  man — ^'the  carnal 
mind" — no  wonder  the  Apostle  used  such  strong 
language,  as  when  he  exclaimed :  "O,  wretched  man 
that  I  am;  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death!" 

I  said  real  ugliness  is  sin.  A  man  may  be  hump- 
shouldered,  cross-eyed,  hair-lipped,  and  club-footed, 
and  yet  be  a  perfect  man ;  while  another  may  be  as 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  333 

straight  as  a  shingle  and  as  sound  as  a  doHar,  phy- 
sically, and  yet  be  as  crooked  as  a  horn  and  as  rot- 
ten as  dirt,  in  character.  AjDpearances  are  won- 
derfully deceptiye.  The  biggest  rascals  are  often 
mistaken  for  saints,  while  the  coarsest  and  rough- 
est are  supposed  to  be  the  most  Ayicked.  As  a  gen- 
eral rule,  that  is  true ;  but  it  has  exceptions. 

I  haye  before  me  an  address  on  the  subject  of  tem- 
perance, deliyered  by  Seymour  W.  Whiting,  Esq., 
father  of  the  Whiting  Brothers  of  this  city,  at  the 
dedication  of  the  Wake  Forest  Diyision  Hall,  April 
2,  1853,  which  shows  how  wisely  and  firmly  and 
resolutely  the  temperance  workers,  of  fifty  years 
ago,  were  planning  a  campaign  that  was  to  be  car- 
ried on  until  the  enemy  had  been,  not  only  clriyen 
from  the  field,  but  yanquished.  I  remember  Mr. 
Whiting  as  a  polished  gentleman  and  pleasant 
speaker,  and  more  than  that,  a  man  of  unusual  abil- 
ity, as  a  thinker  and  writer;  a  man  who  came  to 
conclusions  after  mature  thought  and  thorough  in- 
yestigation,  and  when  conclusions  were  reached, 
did  not  fear  to  speak  his  sentiments,  nor  to  do  what 
an  enlightened  judgment  dictated.  It  is  not  saying 
too  much,  and  I  take  pleasure  in  writing  it,  that  he 
left  behind  him  sons  who  are  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  a  father  whose  memory  they  reyere  and 
whose  goodly  examples  they  take  pride  in  iniitat- 


334  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTEE  XLIII. 

Moid    Quick    He    Was  Whipped — It  Depends  on 
Knowing  How — Going  out  to  Macedonia,  etc. 

I  remember  hearing  Mr.  Owen  Huggins,  then  a 
member  of  the  Legislature  from  Onslow  County, 
forty-five  years  ago,  tell  how  he  was  deceived  by 
appearances.  Mr.  Huggins  was  a  two-hundred- 
pounder,  and  looked  as  if  he  possessed  the  strength 
of  a  Hercules.  Something  was  said  in  his  presence 
about  fighting;  of  this  man's  and  that  man's 
strength  and  weight,  when  Mr.  Huggins  said,  in 
an  excited  manner:  ^^Gentlemen,  there's  nothing 
in  size  and  weight,  for  I  have  both,  as  you  see;  yet 
I  got  a  whipping  once  I've  always  been  ashamed  of, 
from  a  little,  tallow-faced,  weazly-looking  fellow, 
who  didn't  look  like  he  could  pull  a  chicken's  head 
off.  He  was  my  shoe-maker — made  shoes  for  my 
negroes.  One  day  he  made  me  mad,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  thrash  him,  if  he  w^as  a  white  man.  I 
told  him  to  go  down  into  the  woods,  my  cow  pasture, 
take  off  his  coat  and  get  ready  for  a  flogging.  He 
went  off,  looking  so  cast-down,  I  felt  sorry  for  him ; 
but  I'd  told  him  I  was  going  to  whip  him,  and  to 
keep  my  word,  it  had  to  be  done.  I  watched  him 
until  he  reached  the  woods;  and,  when  I  saw  the 
poor  little  fellow  pull  off  his  coat  and  hang  it  on  a 
bush,  my  conscience  chided  me  for  becoming  of- 
fended with  such  a  pitiful  object ;  and  I  was  almost 
inclined  to  call  him  back  and  forgive  him.  But,  I 
thought  to  do  that  might  be  making  a  bad  prece- 
dent, which,  in  the  future,  would  give  me  trouble; 
so,  I  finally  decided  I  had  better  whip  him,  though 
I  wouldn't  hurt  him  very  much — just  whip  him 
enough  to  let  him  know  his  place. 

"^A'hen  I  reached  the  woods,  there  the  poor  fellow 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  335 

stood  with  his  coat  off,  ready  to  take  his  whipi)iiig. 
I  cut  a  moderate-sized  switch,  as  I  went  along,  and 
A\'hen  I  got  near  him,  I  said :  "I'm  sorry  to  have  to 
whip  YOU ;  but,  as  you  have  offended  me,  and  don't 
seem  disposed  to  beg  my  pardon,  nor  even  apologize, 
it's  my  duty  to  teach  you  to  pay  proper  respect  to  a 
gentleman.'  By  that  time  I  was  within  my  length 
of  him,  with  my  switch  uplifted  to  cut  him  across 
the  shoulders.  I  don't  know  how  it  was  done,  but 
before  the  switch  descended  he  bowed  himself  like 
a  bucking  mule  and  came  at  me  like  a  hornet ;  went 
right  between  my  legs  and  knocked  my  feet  from 
under  me.  I  fell  full  length ;  and,  by  the  time  I  hit 
the  ground,  face  foremost,  he  lit  on  my  head,  and 
v/as  clawing  my  face  worse  than  a  wild  cat.  In 
trying  to  rise  I  turned  over  on  my  back,  but  the 
rascal  turned,  too,  and  was  still  on  top,  punching, 
gouging,  scratching,  and  biting,  so  I  dared  not  open 
my  eyes.  I  was  whipped,  and  badly  whipped ;  but, 
the  rascal  didn't  seem  to  know  it,  for  he  kept  on 
biting  and  scratching,  as  if  he  intended  to  tear  me 
to  pieces  and  eat  me  up.  I  hated  to  cry  out  for 
help ;  but,  I  would  have  given  the  worth  of  the  best 
negro  I  had  to  have  had  some  one  come  and  pull 
him  off.  All  of  a  sudden  he  sprang  off,  and,  rising 
to  his  feet,  stood  and  looked  at  me  as  if  he  was  sorry 
for  me.  Then  he  stepped  tow^ard  me  and  said,  just 
as  innocently  and  meekly  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened :  "  'Squire,  git  up,  and  I'll  brush  the  dirt 
off'n  you!'  And  he  did.  No,  gentlemen,  there's 
nothing  in  size  and  weight;  but,  there's  a  sight  in 
knowing  how." 

Mr.  Huggins  spake  a  proverb  when  he  said  that 
In  the  affairs  of  life  there  is  more  in  knowing  how 
than  in  brute  force.  A  thousand  Confederate  sol- 
diers under  Stonewall  Jackson  could  have  put  to 
flight  the  great  army  of  Xerxes,  because  they  knew 
how. 


336  whitaker's  remixiscexces, 

In  the  maiiT  departments  of  business,  men  and 
women  are  failing  because  they  don't  know  how. 
Brute  force  is  all  right  in  a  bull  fight,  when  the 
animals  are  evenly  matched;  but  the  cowboy  who 
knows  how  to  throw  a  lasso  can,  with  apparent  ease, 
soon  subdue  a  whole  pen  full  of  the  fiercest  and 
strongest  animals,  and  call  it  a  pastime.  That's 
because  he  knoAvs  how\ 

And  so,  in  business,  men  depending  solely  on  phy- 
sical force;  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing — 
on  the  notions  and  opinions  of  other  days,  before 
science  had  unlocked  her  store-house  of  inventions, 
and  experience  had  demonstrated  the  superiority 
of  intelligence  over  ignorance,  are  having  a  hard 
time  of  it;  while  those  who  spend  half  their  time 
in  learning  how,  are  prospering  on  less  than  half 
the  labor  their  fathers  had  to  do  to  make  a  living. 

I  went  out  to  Macedonia  a  few  Sundays  ago,  to 
preach  the  funeral  of  a  lady  who  died  several 
months  ago.  Before  arriving  at  the  church  I  was 
hailed  by  a  gentleman  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Chris- 
topher Woodard,  and  informed  that  his  wife  had 
died  the  night  before,  and  it  was  Mr.  Woodard's 
desire  that,  on  my  return,  I  would  stop  and  preach 
her  funeral,  which  I  did. 

Macedonia,  when  I  was  a  boy,  was  a  very  small 
affair,  in  the  way  of  a  church,  a  hundred  yards  or 
more  from  the  road,  completely  cut  off  from  view 
by  a  thick  growth.  My  father,  a  local  Methodist 
preacher,  was  the  pastor  of  a  flock  that  came  out  of 
the  surrounding  woods,  and  for  many  years  he 
served  them,  receiving  but  little,  if  anytlaing,  for  his 
faithful  and  continued  services.  My  father  died  in 
1877.  Since  his  death  many  changes  have  taken 
Ijlace.  In  the  first  place,  all  the  woodland  has  been 
cleared,  and  many  of  the  small  farms  have  been  pur- 
chased and  thrown  into  larger  farms,  so  that  the 
whole  country  is  OAvned  by  a  few  men.     The  old 


INCIDENTS    AND    ANECDOTES.  337 

Macedonia  clnirch  biiildino-  was  torn  down  and  a 
new  one  built  by  Eev.  John  F.  Butt,  twenty-odd 
years  ago;  since  which  time  the  appointment  has 
been  served  by  preachers  sent  by  the  Conference. 
Last  year,  Rev.  M.  M.  McFarland  being  the  pastor, 
the  church  building  was  moved  tAvo  miles  farther 
away  from  Ealeigh,  and  set  up  at  the  fork  of  the 
roads  leading  to  Holly  Springs  and  Haywood.     I 
have  written  all  this  to  say"  that  I  was  greatly 
pleased  at  the  change  which  had  been  made  in  loca- 
tion; and  especially  at  the  improvements  I  could 
but  observe,  in  the  size  of  the  Sunday  school  and 
of  the  congregation  as  well.     I  thought,  as  I  sat  in 
the  pulpit,  so  pleasantly  and  tastefully  arranged, 
and  looked  upon  a  congregation  as  well  dressed 
and  quite  as  inteHigent,  and  as  appreciative  of  the 
gospel,  as  any  other  congregation  to  which  I  preach, 
that  if  the  old  servant  who  sowed  the  seeds  away 
back  yonder  could  look  down  from  heaven  and  see 
''Old  Macedonia''  as  it  is  to-day,  how  it  Avould  make 
him  rejoice!     Then  this  text  came  to  me:    "They 
rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do  follow 
them."     And  this  thought  followed:    ''It  matters 
not  Avhether  the  seed  sown  bring  forth  fruit  to-day 
or  to-morrow — this  year  or  next  year;  the  fruit 
will  come,  if  the  seed  sown  be  good.     For  a  thou- 
sand years  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  are  but  as  ves- 
terday." 

I  took  dinner  with  Mr.  Burwell  Franklin,  who 
lives  near  the  church.  He  is  an  enterprising  farmer, 
a  staunch  friend  of  education,  and  a  faithful  church 
member.  His  oldest  daughters,  just  budding  into 
young  womanhood,  have  been  well  educated,  and 
are  themselves  teachers,  while  his  two  oldest  boys 
are  at  Trinity;  the  one  in  the  Senior  and  the  other 
'n    the    Sophomore    class.     His    well-tilled    farm, 


1-    .„, 

99 


338  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

which  spreads  out  around  him,  tells  better  than  1 
can  in  words  that  he  is  a  good  farmer. 

Brother  Tom  Franklin  is  the  efficient  and  enthu- 
siastic superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  and  it 
was  easy  to  be  seen  that  he  fits  the  place  and  the 
place  fits  him.  Brother  Larry  Woodall  still  holds 
his  own  as  leader  in  singing,  and  it's  not  saying  too 
much  to  say  they  sing  well  at  Macedonia. 

I  would  like  to  say  something  of  all  the  people  I 
know  and  love  out  there  (as  I  was  their  pastor 
four  years),  but  I  must  desist,  wishing,  in  conclud- 
ing, that  the  blessings  of  heaven  may  abide  with 
them. 

How  this  land  of  ours  is  blooming  for  a  glorious 
harvest  of  material  as  well  as  moral  and  intellectual 
prosperity!  The  people  are  in  better  condition  to 
farm,  because  they  have  learned  so  many  things 
their  fathers  never  knew,  and  the  implements  they 
use  are  so  far  superior  to  the  old-time  shop-made 
plows  and  hoes,  to  say  nothing  of  the  seed-sowers, 
mowers,  harrows,  rakes  and  other  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery. 

Then,  there  is  a  school-house  or  church  in  every 
neighborhood,  and  good  roads  are  being  made  to 
facilitate  travel,  so  rural  deliveries  can  take  the 
mail  to  almost  every  farmer's  door.  And,  to  cax) 
the  climax,  the  telephone  makes  it  possible  for  the 
farmers'  Avives,  after  they  have  cleared  off  the  din- 
ner table,  to  sit  at  their  OAvn  homes  and  discuss  the 
fashions,  descant  on  the  affairs  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  get  all  the  news  from  the  city  without  being  put 
to  tiie  trouble  of  passing  the  snuff-box  around. 
Great  country!  And  greater  are  its  possibilities. 
What  it  will  be  a  hundred  years  from  now,  I  am 
afraid  to  predict. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  339 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

Old  Rip  Van  Winkle — How  Long  He  Slept ^  and 
How  they  Woke  Him — Wake  County  ScJiools. 

They  tell  us  that  an  old  gentleman,  known  in 
history  as  Rip  Van  Winkle,  made  himself  famous 
by  taking  a  nap.  I  guess  I  know  some  of  the 
Winkle  family.  They  are  church  people — not  pil- 
lars by  any  means,  but  first-class  sleepers.  History 
does  not  inform  us  what  caused  old  Rip  to  take  that 
long  nap,  but  it  is  safe  to  conclude  it  was  for  the 
lack  of  something  to  keep  him  awake;  not  being 
able  to  read  the  news.  Another  thing  upon  which 
history  is  silent,  is:  did  he  snore?  My  experience 
is,  that,  when  one  snores  he  will  sooner  or  later, 
rise  to  the  dignity  of  a  snort ;  and  that,  a  first-class 
snort  will  wake  any  live  man.  I  think,  therefore, 
that  inasmuch  as  his  slumbers  were  greatly  pro- 
longed, the  old  gentleman  lay  perfectly  quiet,  and 
would  have  made  just  such  a  room-mate  as  would 
suit  some  people,  I  know  in  these  days,  who  pre- 
tend like  they  can't  sleep  in  a  room  where  one  is 
exercising  the  God-given  right  of  making  melody 
in  the  midst  of  his  slumbers. 

But,  be  that  as  it  may,  his  sleep  caused  him  to  get 
badly  behind  with  the  news;  for,  when  at  last  he 
a.woke,  and  came  to  consciousness,  there  had  been 
such  marvelous  changes,  he  neither  knew  the  people, 
nor  understood  the  questions  they  were  discussing ; 
and,  they  were  traveling  at  such  a  rate  it  made  him 
dizzy  to  look  at  them. 

In  his  youth  before  he  fell  asleep,  people  were  not 
in  a  hurry ;  nobody  caring  when  he  got  there,  so  he 
got  there.  Time  was  plentiful,  so  were  bread  and 
meat ;  and  what  need  was  there  for  hurrying,  under 
such  circumstances? 


340  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

North  Carolina,  in  some  things,  has  been  com- 
pared to  Rip  Van  Winkle.  One  of  the  things  over 
which  she  has  been  accused  of  nodding,  is  Educa- 
tion, and,  inasmuch  as  many  of  her  sister  States 
have  outstripped  her  in  the  matter  of  schools,  we 
are  forced  to  admit  that  "Winkleism"  had  some- 
thing to  do  in  shaping  her  educational  policy,  in 
the  years  gone  by. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  North  Carolina 
was  in  1660,  forty  years  after  the  settlement  of  the 
Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Two  hundred  and 
forty-four  years  have  passed,  therefore,  since  that 
time ;  and  yet  the  State,  because  of  its  lethargy,  has 
a  large  per  cent  of  uneducated  citizens.  Historians 
tell  us  the  reason  why  so  little  attention  was  given 
to  education  in  the  early  days  of  the  State  was,  be- 
cause, it  required  just  about  all  the  people's  time 
to  provide  for  the  wants  of  the  body  and  protect 
themselves  against  the  savages  Avith  which  they 
were  surrounded. 

Of  course  they  had  some  schools;  but,  they  were 
few  and  very  far  apart,  affording  opportunity  to 
only  such  as  could  pay  the  tuition  to  send  their 
children. 

The  first  official  allusion  to  the  need  of  educa- 
tional facilities  was  made  by  Gov.  Johnston,  in 
1736,  seventy-six  years  after  the  people  began  to 
settle  the  State.  Doubtless  the  people  talked  the 
matter  over  among  themselves,  but  I  have  seen 
no  account  in  histor^^  that  the  matter  had  been  al- 
luded to  by  any  Governor  prior  to  Gov.  Johnston. 

In  1750,  fourteen  years  later,  the  first  printing 
press  Avas  set  up  in  the  State.  To  us,  li^ang  in  an 
age  of  newspapers,  Avho  read  the  morning  and  the 
evening  dailies,  and  get  the  news  from  all  parts  of 
the  Avorld — some  of  it  ten  or  twelve  hours  before 
it  happens;  and  are  regaled  daily  Avith  accounts 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  341 

of  murders,  shipwrecks,  railroad  smasli-ups,  war 
neAvs,  politics,  marriages,  deaths,  divorces,  lynch- 
ings,  and  such  like;  to  say  nothing  of  the  "Society 
columns,''  on  Sunday  morning,  which  enlighten  us 
as  to  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the  dear  Avomen  in 
their  whist,  euchre  and  reception  parties — (the  very 
ones  they  read  mostly  on  the  Sabbath) — I  say,  to 
us,  enjoying  such  rare  and  numerous  advantages, 
it  seems  strange  how  our  forefathers  as  well  as  our 
foremothers  got  along  without  newspapers.  No 
Avonder,  having  nothing  to  read,  the  State,  like 
Van  Winkle,  Avent  to  sleep. 

In  1762,  one  hundred  and  tAvo  years  after  the  first 
settlements,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature 
proAiding  for  the  building  of  a  school  house  in 
the  town  of  Ncav  Bern.  That  was  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  the  rich  men's  children;  nevertheless,  it 
was  a  move  in  the  right  direction;  and  AAdiile  l3ut 
few  children,  comparatively,  could  attend  the  New 
Bern  school,  it  indirectly  benefited  the  AAdiole  State. 

As  evidence  of  that  we  are  told  that,  in  the  Hali- 
fax CouA^entiou,  held  in  1775,  it  was  solemnly 
ordained:  "That  a  school  or  schools  shall  be 
established  by  the  Legislature  for  the  convenient 
instruction  of  youth,  with  such  salaries  to  the  mast- 
ers, paid  by  the  public,  as  may  enable  them  to  in- 
struct at  low  prices;  and  all  useful  learning  shall 
be  encouraged  in  one  or  more  universities." 

The  schools  "for  the  convenient  instruction  of 
3'outh"  seem  to  have  been  OA^erlooked,  by  the  Legis- 
lature; but  in  1789,  fourteen  years  after  the  adop- 
tion of  the  ordinance,  "the  University"  AA^as  estab- 
lished. Not  until  1825,  fifty  years  after  the  adop- 
tion of  said  ordinance,  did  the  Legislature  address 
itself  to  the  task  of  establishing  those  "schools  for 
the  convenient  instruction  of  youth."  In  that  year, 
1825,  an  act  was  passed  to  create  a  fund  for  the 
establishment  of  common  schools. 


342  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Nine  years  before,  that  is,  in  1816,  Hon.  Archi- 
bald D.  Murphy,  of  Orange,  made  an  effort  to  get 
the  Legislature  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  people 
as  ex]3ressed  in  the  Convention  of  1775;  but  some- 
how or  somehow  else  the  matter  went  over  until 
finally  acted  upon  by  the  Legislature  of  1825,  when 
Hon.  Bartlett  Yancey,  of  Caswell,  drew  up,  and 
introduced  into  the  Legislature,  a  bill  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  common  schools.  To  him,  therefore, 
is  due  the  distinction  of  setting  in  motion  the 
machinery  that  finally  wrought  out  the  great 
educational  system  of  this  day  and  time.  But, 
that  ^^school  convenient  for  the  education  of  youth," 
promised  to  the  people  fifty  years  before  at  Halifax, 
was  not  then  a  realization;  for,  we  find  the  matter 
was  discussed  in  the  Legislature  of  1836,  and  that 
an  act  was  passed  creating  a  Board  of  Literature. 
In  that  year,  the  school  fund,  which  had  been  ac- 
cumulating for  several  years — I  may  say,  decades — 
amounted  to  |250,000.  '^  The  next  year '^(1837)  that 
fund  was  increased  to  a  million  and  a  half  dollars 
by  having  added  to  it  |1,433,750,  which  the  State 
received  from  the  general  government,  under  the 
deposit  act  of  1836. 

In  1836,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  pro- 
viding for  laying  off  the  State  into  school  districts, 
and  for  submitting  the  question  of  "Schools"  or 
"No  Schools,"  to  the  people  of  the  several  counties. 
The  election  was  held  in  1836,  nearly  all  the  counties 
voting  for  schools ;  and,  so,  in  1840,  the  machinery 
was  put  in  proper  condition,  and,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand,  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
one,  the  common  schools  were  opened. 

In  1840,  the  year  before  the  common  schools  were 
opened,  there  were  two  colleges  in  the  State,  with 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  students;  one 
hundred  and  forty  academies  with  about  five  thous- 
and students;  six  hundred  and  thirty-two  primary 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  343 

or  "old-field"  schools,  with  about  fifteen  thousand 
pupils,  making  a  total  of  twenty  thousand  chil- 
dren at  school,  in  a  State  whose  white  population, 
at  that  time,  was  484,870;  the  entire  population, 
white  and  colored  being  753,419.  Wake  County  has 
to-day  nearly  half  as  many  children  at  school  as 
the  whole  State  had  in  1840. 

If  we  will  incarnate  the  idea,  which  the  history 
of  our  State  furnishes  from  the  first  settlements 
to  the  opening  of  its  common  schools  in  1841,  I 
think  it  would  be  well  to  name  that  incarnation 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  as  our  State  seems  to  have  been 
asleep  more  than  half  the  time,  from  1660  to  1841, 
upon  the  subject  of  education.  For  the  sake  of 
curiosity  let  us  see  how  much  of  the  time  Old  Rip 
has  slept  as  well  as  how  hard  he  has  been  to  wake 
up. 

Gov.  Johnston  gave  him  a  nudge  in  the  ribs  in 
1736,  when  he  had  been  asleep  76  years,  which 
nudge  had  the  effect  of  making  him  yawn  and 
partly  open  his  eyes;  but  he  didn't  move  hand  nor 
foot,  nor  speak  a  word  for  26  additional  years,  when 
in  1762,  he  roused  up  enough  to  say  "let  us  build 
a  school  house  in  New  Bern" ;  and  dropped  off  into 
a  nap  of  13  years,  which  seemed  to  do  the  old  gentle- 
man much  good;  for,  in  1775,  at  the  Halifax  Con- 
vention, which  framed  a  Constitution  for  the  State, 
he  actually  sat  up  and  spoke  out  in  meeting,  saying : 
"a  school  or  schools  shall  be  established  by  the 
Legislature,  for  the  convenient  instruction  of  youth, 
and  one  or  more  universities  for  the  encouragement 
of  all  learning." 

But  that  effort  so  exhausted  him,  he  dropped 
off  into  another  nap  w^hich  lasted  14  years,  at  the 
end  of  which  (in  the  year  1789),  he  roused  up  long 
enough  to  build  one  university,  but,  couldn't  keep 
awake  long  enough  to  start  the  common  schools. 
After  so  fatiguing  an  exercise  the  old  fellow  took 


344  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

a  thirty-three  years'  nap,  and  so  dead  asleep  was  he, 
in  181G,  that  he  could  not  be  aroused  to  complete 
consciousness,  although  Hon.  Archibald  D.  Murphy, 
in  the  Legislature  of  that  year,  did  his  utmost  to 
wake  him  up. 

Eight  years  later,  1825,  (his  thirty-three  years' 
nap  haying  grown  to  forty-one  years),  Hon.  Bart- 
lett  Yancey  of  Caswell,  got  the  old  fellow  by  the 
beard  and  gave  him  such  a  shaking,  he  waked  up 
sufficiently  to  drawl  out:  ^^Those  schools  for  the 
convenient  education  of  youth  must  be  started." 

From  that  time,  1825,  until  1841,  when  the  com- 
mon schools  were  opened,  the  old  fellow  had  no 
chance  to  take  another  nap,  though  it  must  be  con- 
fessed he  did  not  swing  to  his  work  like  a  Avide- 
awake  man  should  do.  Whenever  he  became  a 
little  drowsy,  an  apparition,  in  the  shape  of  Bart- 
lett  Yancey,  would  appear  before  him,  with  hand 
extended  as  if  reaching  for  his  beard;  and  sleep 
Avould  vanish.  In  fact,  he  has  not  slept  a  wink 
since ;  and  it's  the  opinion  of  the  best  informed,  that 
he  will  never  be  able  to  nap  it  any  more,  on  account 
of  the  noise  the  world  is  making.  He  was  a  little 
drowsy,  at  times,  until  Gov.  Ay  cock's  educational 
policy  struck  him  under  the  burr  of  the  ear;  since 
then  he  has  had  such  a  roaring  in  his  head  he  can't 
even  nod. 

Eip  Van  Winkle  is  now  wide  awake ! 

The  reader  must  not  suppose  North  Carolina 
had  no  educated  men  and  women,  before  the  com- 
mon scliools  were  started.  The  early  settlers  were, 
many  of  them,  well  educated,  and,  as  a  very  natural 
consequence,  they  educated  their  children.  They 
even  had  classical  schools,  scattered  here  and  there, 
and  while  the  poorer  classes  could  not  be  educated, 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  wealthier  people 
were  moderately  well  taught  in  those  branches 
which  fitted  them  for  the  age  in  Avhich  they  lived. 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  345 

The  old-time  log  cabins,  the  puncheon  floors,  the 
broad  chimneys,  the  rude  benches,  the  creaking 
doors,  the  play  grounds,  the  spring  just  down  the 
hill,  the  gourd  that  hung  on  a  stake ;  the  rude  boys, 
the  rollicking  girls,  the  Webster  spelling  book, 
the  Pike  arithmetic,  the  Columbian  Orator,  the 
Xew  York  reader,  the  long  writing  desk,  the  copy 
books,  the  goose-quill  pens,  the  master  with  rule  in 
hand  punishing  the  boy  who  stuck  a  pin  in  Bill,  or 
stepped  on  Jack's  sore  toe  a  purpose,  or  threw  a 
paper  wad  and  stuck  it  on  Jane's  cheek;  these  and 
a  thousand  things  which  memory  calls  up  will  give 
the  boys  and  girls  of  to-day  some  idea  of  what  the 
old-time  school  was,  when  their  ancestors  were  cut- 
ting down  the  forest,  building  houses,  laying  off 
roads  and  driving  back  the  Indians.  And  while 
the  children  of  this  age  may,  in  the  pride  of  their 
superior  advantages,  turn  up  their  noses  in  dis- 
gust at  the  idea  of  going  to  school  in  log  huts,  they 
are  bound  to  admit  that  their  ancestors,  with  their 
meager  advantages,  were  heroes,  patriots  and  states- 
men, whose  lives  and  examples  are  worthy  of  imita- 
tion. 

Wake  County  has  cause  to  be  proud  of  an  ancestry 
which  wrought  out  and  bequeathed  to  this  genera- 
tion, conditions  which  make  it  so  easy  for  children 
to  acquire  an  education.  When  we  look  at  the 
colleges,  high  schools,  academies  and  well  organized 
and  skillfully  managed  public  schools,  even  in  Wake 
County,  and  contrast  them  with  the  schools  of  the 
olden  time,  to  Avhich  our  fathers  and  grandfathers 
went  in  quest  of  knowledge,  we  are  forced  to  ex- 
claim :     Surely  this  is  a  favored  generation ! 

Here  in  Raleigh  we  have  more  big  schools  than 
the  whole  State  had  a  hundred  years  ago,  to-wit: 
The  A.  and  M.  College,  St.  Mary's,  Peace  Institute, 
the  Baptist  University,  Raleigh  Male  Academy, 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Institute,  the  Methodist  Orphan- 


346  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

age,  King's  Business  College;  while  scattered  over 
the  citv  there  are  graded  and  other  schools,  filled 
to  OYer-flowing  with  scholars  whose  advantages 
for  acquiring  an  education  are  superior  to  any  the 
boys  and  girls  of  a  century  ago  ever  dreamed  of. 

Sixteen  miles  north  of  the  city.  Wake  Forest 
looms  up  like  a  mountain,  whose  peaks  are  seen  at 
a  gi'eat  distance,  and  so  great  has  it  grown  that  all 
North  Carolina  feels  the  influence  flowing  from  it. 
West  of  the  city,  onh^  eight  miles  distant,  Cary 
High  School  is  more  than  equal  to  what  Wake 
Forest  was  fifty  years  ago;  while  at  Apex,  Holly 
Springs,  Morrisville,  Wakefield,  and  in  fact,  in 
every  school  district,  the  children — all  the  child- 
ren— are  brought  in  touch  with  the  best  teachers 
and  the  best  methods  our  county  and  State  can 
furnish,  or  experience  devise.  In  my  young  days 
a  sixty  days'  school  was  the  average.  By  the  time 
a  teacher  became  acquainted  with  his  scholars  the 
money  gave  out  and,  of  course,  the  school  came  to 
a  sudden  halt.  Teachers  received  about  |15  per 
month,  and  a  month  in  those  good  old  times  con- 
sisted of  thirty  days,  and  the  days  extended  from  an 
hour  after  sunrise  to  an  hour  before  sunset — so,  an 
average  school  day  was  eight  hours,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  hours  made  a  month's  work,  for 
which  the  teacher  received  fifteen  dollars — equal 
to  six  cents  and  a  quarter  an  hour,  or  fifty  cents 
a  day. 

To  earn  that  fifty  cents  he  had  to  say  the  A  B 
C's  over  at  least  a  hundred  times  a  day,  hear  a  dozen 
or  more  a-b  ab's,  as  mam^  b-a  ba's;  nearly  as  many 
b-a  ba,  k-e-r  ker  bakers,  set  all  the  copies,  make  all 
the  goose-quill  pens,  work  all  the  sums,  hear  the  big 
boys  and  girls  parse,  whip  a  boy  every  half  an 
hour,  and  keep  an  eye,  meantime,  on  the  fellow 
on  the  dunce  block;  besides  having  to  give  an  ac- 
count almost  daily,  to  some  irate  father  who  came 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  347 

to  see  about  his  boy,  who  got  a  whipping  the  day 
before.  A  fellow  earned  his  fifty  cents  by  the  time 
he  went  through  that  program,  and  felt  very  thank- 
ful when  the  hour  came  to  close  school  in  the  even- 
ing. 

HoAv  different  the  work  and  pay  now  from  what 
they  were  then!  Now  the  uniformity  of  books 
divides  a  school  into  grades,  thereby  reducing  the 
number  of  recitations,  while  the  pencil,  pad  and 
blackboard  do  away  with  many  little  vexations  the 
old-time  teacher  had  to  contend  with.  And  instead 
of  fifty  cents  a  day,  the  teacher  is  the  happy  re- 
cipient of  about  two  dollars,  if  he  gets  forty  dol- 
lars per  month,  for  his  month  is  twenty  days  instead 
of  thirty,  as  when  I  began  to  teach! 

Yes,  Old  Kip  Van  Winkle  is  Avide  awake  now, 
and  since  the  women — the  good  looking  w^omen — 
have  captured  the  school  houses,  he  doubtless  wishes 
he  had  not  slept  away  his  best  days  and  lost  all  his 
chances. 

I  congratulate  Wake  County  upon  her  good 
schools  with  their  capable  and  efficient  teachers, 
upon  her  faithful,  zealous  and  competent  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Instruction,  and  upon  the  fact 
that  her  capital  city  is  the  leading  educational  cen- 
ter in  the  State,  if  not  in  the  South. 

And  I  congratulate  myself,  most  of  all,  that  I  have 
lived  to  see  the  day  when  the  man  of  money  is  but  a 
nabob,  while  the  educated  men  and  women  are  the 
princes  and  the  princesses  of  the  land. 


348  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

Mother  of  Dr.  Byrd  Writes  a  Letter — A  Felloio 
Who  Got  Up  His  Oivn  Quarrel — Hushand  Who 
Could  l^ot  Provoke  His  Wife — Mischief  in  a 
Misii nderstan  din g — Capt.  Woodall. 

Some  time  ago,  speaking  of  the  mother  of  Rev. 
C.  W.  Brvd,  D.  D.,  of  Atlanta,  I  was  not  sure 
whether  she  was  the  daughter  or  the  granddaughter 
of  Mr.  Daniel  Shaw,  and  so  stated.  I  have  received 
two  letters  which  state  that  Mrs.  Byrd  was  the 
daughter.  One  of  these  letters  was  from  Mrs.  Byrd, 
herself;  and,  as  I  think  the  readers  will  take  pleas- 
ure in  reading  a  letter  written  by  a  lady  of  her 
great  age,  I  will  insert  it  here.  Writing  from 
Buie's  Creek,  N.  C,  she  says: 

"Dear  Brother: — I  have  been  amused  and  en- 
tertained with  your  reminiscences  in  the  Neios  and 
Observer,  and  several  times  thought  I  would  write 
you.  *  *  *  I  wish  to  say  that  Jesse  Osborn,  that 
eccentric  character  you  spoke  of  some  time  ago, 
carried  that  letter  to  Alabama.  He  carried  it  to 
my  cousin,  Norman  Urquhart.  Dr.  Byrd,  of  At- 
lanta, is  my  son.  *  *  *  i  am  Daniel  Shaw's 
youngest  daughter,  and  married  A.  J.  Byrd  in  1843 ; 
your  father  married  us,  and  you  were  at  the  mar- 
riage, a  boy  just  entering  your  teens.  I  never  saw 
much  of  you,  but  knew  your  brother,  Jefferson,  and 
his  good  wife,  well.  They  lived  with  my  parents 
the  first  year  of  their  marriage.  *  *  *  I  also 
knew  your  brother  Rom,  as  well  as  your  mother 
and  sisters.  It  seems  to  me  I  knew  your  father 
from  my  earliest  recollections.  I  loved  and  rev- 
erenced him — thought  he  was  the  greatest  preacher 
in  the  world.  I  remember  with  pleasure  how  he 
used  to  look,  sitting  in  that  old-fashioned  pulpit 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  349 

at  Barclay's  chapel  singing,  "O  glorious  hope  of 
perfect  love,-'  his  face  radiant  with  joy.  I  thought 
it  was  the  sweetest  music  I  ever  heard,  and  indeed 
it  was,  and  will  be  the  sweetest  this  side  of  heaven. 
I  was  then  an  innocent  child ;  my  whole  being,  like 
virgin  wax,  ready  to  receive  impressions.  And  I 
did  receive  them'^from  ''dear  Uncle  Tom"  (as  we 
young  people  called  him),  and  they  have  done  me 
good  all  my  life. 

You  spoke  of  Frank  Page.  He  was  another  good 
man.  I  knew  his  wife  from  infancy.  A  beautiful 
good  woman.  Frank  Page  stayed  at  my  father's 
two  or  three  years  and  made  it  pleasant  to  my 
parents  whose  children  were  all  gone.  Brother 
Ben  was  a  bov  in  his  teens,  an  operator,  at  Charles- 
ton, in  the  telegraph  office.  He  received  and  pre- 
pared for  the  press,  the  first  President's  Message 
that  ever  went  over  the  wires,  (that  of  President 
Polk). 

Frank  Page's  children  don't  know  anything  of 
me ;  though  some  of  the  oldest  children  were  at  my 
house  when  they  were  small.  They  don't  know 
there  is  an  old  woman  living  in  the  back  woods,  who 
always  remembers  them  in  her  prayers,  and  is  glad 
when  she  hears  they  prosper  and  do  good. 

I  don't  know  any  of  the  Whitakers  but  you.  I 
keep  up  with  you  because  you  are  a  preacher  and 
a  son  of  our  d^ar  old  Uncle  Tom.  If  ever  you  come 
through  this  country,  call  on  me  for  the  sake  of  the 
loved  ones  who  are  gone.  My  husband  was  a  great 
lover  of  your  father,  as  well  as  myself.  I  don't 
know  whether  you  can  read  my  writing,  I  am  so 
old,  nearing  seventy-nine. 

"Mrs.  M.  C.  Byrd." 

O,  what  a  troop  of  scenes  the  above  letter  brings 
to  memory!  Sixty-one  years  ago  the  hand  that 
wrote  it  was  given  in  marriage  to  a  young  man 


350  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

reared  in  Wake  County.  I  was  then  a  boy  just  en- 
tering my  teens.  Frank  Page,  a  young  man,  as 
well  as  my  brother,  was  just  starting  out  in  life. 
Ben  Shaw  was  a  boy  in  the  telegraph  office — James 
K.  Polk  was  the  President  of  the  United  States. 
John  C.  Calhoun,  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay, 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  Silas  Wright,  James  Buc- 
hanan, Martin  Van  Buren,  William  L.  Yancy,  were 
prominent  figures  in  politics;  and  no  one,  then  liv- 
ing, had  the  remotest  idea  that,  in  twenty  years 
from  that  date,  our  country  would  be  deluged  in 
the  blood  of  a  fratricidal  war.  How  few  there  are 
alive  to-day  who  remember  sixty  years  ago ! 

I  have  heard  it  said,  that  it  takes  two  to  make 
a  bargain,  two  to  make  a  quarrel,  and  two  to  make 
a  fight;  and,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is  true.  There 
are  exceptions,  however,  to  all  general  rules,  and 
to  one  or  two  of  these  I  will  turn  the  attention  of 
the  reader,  as  I  relate  an  incident  or  two  of  "ye 
olden  times." 

When  a  young  man,  with  a  horse  and  buggy  at 
my  command,  I  used  to  go  around  the  country  with 
the  candidates,  from  precinct  to  precinct,  to  see 
the  people  and  hear  the  candidates.  In  those  days 
the  old  women,  who  made  ginger  cakes,  went  out 
to  the  speaking,  carrying  chests  full  of  horse  cakes 
and  five-cent  gungers  which  were  indeed,  the  de- 
light of  the  small  boy ;  while  barrels  of  cider  ( sweet 
of  course?),  and  loads  of  watermelons  were  almost 
as  plentiful  as  were  the  voters  who  came  out  to  hear 
politics  discussed  by  the  would-be  statesmen. 

I  was  at  Rolesville  on  one  occasion  when,  as  I 
suspect,  the  cider  had  grown  a  little  too  strong  to 
be  called  sweet,  for  a  very  large  number  of  the 
sovereigns  became  unduly  excited  and  patriotic. 
There  was  one  fellow  who  made  noise  enough  for  a 
half  dozen  men,  and,  unused  as  I  was  to  quarreling 
and  fighting,  I  thought,  as  I  looked  at  that  fellow. 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTEtS.  351 

rolliug  up  his  sleeves  and  popping  his  fists,  and 
heard  his  threats  and  oaths,  that  a  real  knock-down 
and  drag-out  performance  was  not  only  imminent, 
but  would  soon  begin.  He  was  in  a  terrible  rage, 
and  I  felt  sure  that  his  antagonist,  whoever  he 
might  be,  was  in  danger  of  being  speedily  demol- 
ished, and  1  began  to  wonder  why  some  one  did 
not  interfere  to  prevent  the  bloody  scene  which  I 
was  apprehending.  I  looked  about  for  that  anta- 
gonist, but  to  my  surprise  I  neither  saw  nor  heard 
of  him.  On  the  contrary,  no  one  seemed  to  be 
pajdng  any  attention  to  the  fellow  who  was  raging 
and  cursing.  In  a  loud  tone  of  voice  and  with  an 
oath  at  the  beginning  and  ending  of  almost  every 
sentence,  the  excited,  would-be  pugilist  exclaimed : 
''I  just  dare  him  to  toe  that  mark!  I'm  a  man 
of  my  own  'cability,'  and  I  can  whip  him  before  he 

can  bat  his  eyes.     I'll  let  the scoundrel  know 

he  ain't  to  go  round  here  talking  about  me,  if  his 

daddy  does  own  a  nigger  or  two.     Where's  the 

rascal?  Who  said  I  was  af eared?  Who  said  I 
couldn't  whij)  him?  I'll  mash  any  man's  mouth 
and  knock  his  teeth  down  his  throat  who  pretends 
to  take  his  part.  My  name's  Bill  Snipes,  and  I'm 
a  man  of  my  'own  indignity,'  and  I'll  never  leave 
this  here  precinct  till  I've  made  hash  out'n  that  in- 
fernal scoundrel,  and  I'm  the  man  to  do  it."  And 
so,  for  at  least  half  an  hour,  he  raged  and  foamed 
at  the  mouth,  and  defied  his  antagonist  to  toe  the 
mark  and  get  his  teeth  knocked  down  his  throat. 
But,  nobody  toed  the  mark ;  in  fact  the  peoi)le,  pay- 
ing no  attention  to  his  ravings,  drifted  otf  to  an- 
other part  of  the  grove  to  eat  watermelons.  See- 
ing he  was  left  alone  he  cooled  off,  and  soon  forgot, 
as  he  scooped  out  a  melon  with  his  dirt-begrimed 
hand,  the  awful  passion  through  which  he  had 
raged,  as  well  as  the  imaginary  foe  against  whom 
he  hurled  his  anathemas.     Ever  since  that  July 


352  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

evening,  at  Rolesville,  I  have  been  fully  satisfied 
that  it  does  not  take  tA\  o  to  make  a  quarrel,  Avhen 
sweet  cider  becomes  a  little  hard. 

I  have  an  incident  which  will  establish  the  fact 
that,  while  two  may  make  a  quarrel,  the^^  don't 
do  it  ever^^  time,  not  even  if  they  are  husband  and 
wife.  In  most  cases,  I  admit,  a  selfish  unfeeling 
husband  and  an  irritable  wife  will  succeed,  under 
ordinary  provocation,  to  get  up  a  quarrel;  but,  I 
kncAV  a  husband  who  never  could  succeed  in  raising 
a  roAv.  He  belonged  to  that  class  of  beings  who 
always  take  the  opposite  side;  and  who,  because 
the^^  can't  always  have  their  way,  spend  their  lives 
in  pouting.  Such  people  are  always  miserable 
and  would  like  to  make  all  around  them  as  miser- 
able as  they  are.  That  man  had  a  happj^-hearted 
wife,  who  not  only  would  not  quarrel,  but  rarely 
ever  fretted  or  complained,  let  the  provocation  be 
what  it  might.  It  made  no  difference  how  much 
he  growled  and  complained,  she  was  as  calm  and  as 
sunny  as  a  May  morning.  He  fretted  sometimes 
because  she  wouldn't  fret  and  secretly  wished,  deep 
down  in  his  heart,  that  something  would  happen 
to  ruffle  her  temper,  or,  at  least,  make  her  complain. 
One  day,  she  had  just  finished  her  Aveek's  washing 
and  hung  the  clothes  on  the  line  when  her  husband 
returned  from  the  mill.  Leaving  his  horse  un- 
hitched Avhile  carrying  the  meal  into  the  house,  the 
horse  ran  off,  knocking  doAvn  the  stakes  Avhich 
held  up  the  clothes'  line  and  scattering  the  newly 
washed  Avet  garments  in  all  directions  on  the 
ground.  The  husband  looked  out  and  saw  the  mis- 
chief done,  and  chuckled  to  himself,  belicA^ng,  or, 
at  least  hoping,  that  his  Avife  Avould  get  mad  and  say 
something  that  Avould  offset  some  of  his  frequent 
growl ings  and  complainings.  He  held  his  breath 
to  hear  her  first  remark ;  and  this  it  Avas :  "Praise 
the  Lord  I" 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  353 

"Praise  the  Lord  for  what?"  asked  the  husband, 
as  he  came  out,  and  saw  what  had  happened. 
"Your  clothes  are  all  down  in  the  dirt/' 

"Yes,  but,  bless  the  Lord,  the  horse  aint  hurt  and 
lUY  line  aint  broke.  I  can  soon  rinse  the  clothes, 
and  YOU  can  put  up  the  line,  and  in  an  hour  we'll 
hardl}^  remember  that  anything  happened.  The 
Lord  is  surely  good  to  us,  praise  his  holy  name." 
No;  two  people  don't  always  get  up  a  quarrel. 
Such  a  spirit  as  that  wife  possessed  would  soon 
stop  all  the  quarrels  and  make  it  impossible  to  pro- 
voke a  fight. 

I  witnessed  an  incident,  not  long  ago,  that 
amused  me  no  little,  at  the  moment;  and  from  it, 
I  drew  a  moral.  The  incident  was  simply  the  mis- 
understanding of  a  single  sentence  uttered  by  one 
person  in  conversation  with  another;  and  the  mis- 
understanding grew  out  of  the  fact  that  the  first 
words  of  the  sentence  were  not  heard,  without 
A^  hich  the  remark  meant,  or  could  have  been  made 
to  mean,  the  opposite  of  what  the  person  speaking 
intended.  Instead  of  satisfjdng  himself  that  he 
understood  the  remark,  he  replied,  with  some  heat, 
to  what  he  thought  the  speaker  had  said. 

In  a  moment  however,  an  explanation  removed 
the  difficulty,  and  the  person  spoken  to,  wlio  had 
show^n  more  temper  than  was  becoming,  made  due 
apology  and  the  incident  closed.  The  moral  I  drew 
Avas,  it  is  not  wisest  nor  by  any  means  best  for  one 
to  be  too  sensitive. 

They  used  to  tell  a  story  on  Capt.  Woodall,  when 
I  Avas  a  boy,  which  might  or  might  not  have  been 
true;  but,  whether  true  or  untrue  it  was  a  right 
good  joke,  and  at  the  same  time  serves  to  strengthen 
my  remark  above. 

They  told  it  upon  the  Captain,  that  when  he  was 
a  courting  character,  he  had  a  sweetheart,  the 
23 


354  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

daughter  of  a  ladj  who,  in  those  days,  made  gentle- 
men's clothing,  and  to  do  the  pressing  she  had  a 
tailor's  goose.  The  Captain  went  -in  one  day 
rather  unexpectedly  and  things  were  hurriedly  set 
to  rights  in  the  room  for  his  reception.  But  there 
on  the  table  was  the  goose.  Soon  after  the  Cap- 
tain and  his  girl  were  seated,  and  before  they  had 
had  time  to  begin  a  conversation,  the  mother  stepped 
to  the  door  and  called  out  to  a  servant : 

^^Jane,  come  in  here  and  take  this  goose  out. 
Come  quick !" 

^'My  God,  madam,"  said  the  Captain,  jumping 
up  and  moving  towards  the  door,  'I  can  leave  with- 
out being  taken  out  by  Jane.'  " 

His  girl  was  equal  to  the  occasion  and,  amid  her 
laughter,  said:  Captain,  we  thought  you  were  a 
gander,  Jane's  got  the  goose  and  gone.  So  sit 
doAvn." 

The  matter  explained  itself,  and  so  will  almost 
everything  else  straighten  out,  when  understood. 
Hence,  it's  a  good  rule,  as  old  Trigger  Smith  used 
to  say,  "not  to  kick  before  you  are  spurred." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  355 


OHAPTRE  XLYI. 

Meditating  on  the  Bright  Days  Before  the  War — 
Yanl'ee  Cruelties. 

When  I  have  nothing  else  to  do  I  shut  my  eyes 
and  think.  It  is  astonishing  how  much  thinking 
one  can  do  in  an  hour,  and  hoAV  far  the  mind  can 
travel,  and  how  many  people  can  be  brought  into 
review  in  that  short  time.  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  a  drowning  man  thinks  his  whole  life  over 
Avhile  he  is  drowning.  I  don't  vouch  for  that,  for 
I  never  had  a  conversation  with  any  one  who  was 
drowned;  but,  I  did  hear  a  fellow  say,  who  fell  off 
a  house,  that  he  thought  of  more  things  Avhile  he 
was  falling  twenty  feet  than  he  had  thought  of  in 
CAventy  years. 

Yes,  the  mind  is  a  w^onderful  traveler;  beats 
electricity,  at  its  very  best;  and  it  needs  no  wires 
nor  air  waves;  but,  with  a  bound  leaps  from  earth 
to  slvA^ ;  or,  in  a  twinkling,  sweeps  around  the  earth 
and  takes  a  view  of  land  and  sea,  and  shakes  hands 
with  all  nations,  and  is  at  home  again,  in  the  twink- 
ling of  an  e^^e;  and  then,  without  stopping  to  rest, 
it  swings  off  into  the  old  beaten  track  of  the  past 
and  travels  back  to  childhood,  noting,  as  it  goes, 
the  changes  that  have  occurred,  in  feeling,  thought 
and  purpose  between  that  childhood  period  and  the 
present,  or  flashes  into  the  future  a  ray  of  light 
that  may  enable  us  to  walk  without  stumbling, 
when  with  trembling  limbs,  we  are  getting  nearer 
to  the  end  of  the  journey. 

I  can  not  remember  all  that  is  behind  me,  ( I  had 
rather  not  remember  some  things )  ;  but,  I  remember 
enough  to  make  me  both  miserable  and  happy ;  mis- 
erable because  so  much  of  sweetness  turned  to  bit- 
terness, and  happy  because  so  much  of  bitterness 


356  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

became  sweetness.  Our  lives  are  very  much 
checkered,  and  it  is  Avell  for  us  they  are.  If  we  had 
pleasure  all  the  time,  we'd  soon  forget  that  we  are 
dying  mortals,  and  have  souls  to  save;  and  if  w^e 
had  sorrow  and  sadness  all  the  time,  we  would  be- 
come discouraged  with  life  and  wish  to  die. 

Paul  was  allowed,  in  a  trance,  to  behold  the 
beauties  and  glories  of  the  third  heaven;  "•'and 
heard  unspeakable  words  Avhich  it  is  not  lawful  for 
a  man  to  utter'' — an  experience  Avhich  was  so  en- 
rapturing that,  but  for  an  affliction  which  befell 
him  he  would  have  been  unfit  for  the  work  of  life 
among  mortals.  Speaking  of  it  he  says:  ''Lest 
I  should  be  exalted  above  measure,  through  the 
abundance  of  revelations,  there  was  given  to  me 
a  thorn  in  the  flesh,  the  messenger  of  Satan,  to 
buffet  me,  lest  I  should  be  exalted  above  measure." 
He  says  he  besought  the  Lord  thrice  that  that 
thorn,  whatever  it  was,  might  depart  from  him ;  but, 
instead  of  removing  the  thorn,  God  said  unto  him, 
''My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,''  adding  this  ex- 
planation, "My  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weak- 
ness." By  which  we  understand  that  God  can  do 
a  more  perfect  work  through  a  man  who  is  humble 
than  one  who  is  "exalted,"  as  Paul  says,  "above 
measure." 

We  laugh  sometimes,  in  thinking  over  the  past; 
and  then  again  we  can  not  keep  back  the  tears. 
One  moment  we  are  in  the  midst  of  mirth,  the  sun 
shining  so  brightly;  then,  here  comes  a  cloud  and 
the  sun  is  obscured,  the  lightnings  flash,  the  thun- 
ders roar,  the  winds  howl  and  a  storm  of  sorrow 
sweeps  down  upon  us.  But  soon  the  sun  is  shin- 
ing again,  and  all  is  serene  and  happy. 

How  bright  were  the  days  of  the  home  life,  when 
father,  mother  and  six  children  constituted  a  family. 
It  did  not  seem  that  anything  could  mar  our 
happiness.     Our  little  world  had  never  been  visited 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  357 

bj  the  angel  of  death,  nor  had  any  great  misfortune 
been  felt;  but  there  came  a  great  sorroAV,  right  in 
the  midst  of  our  happiest  period.  A  brother  just 
entering  upon  the  practice  of  medicine,  was  taken 
from  us,  and  one  link  of  that  hitherto  happy  circle 
Avas  gone.  The  sun  came  out  again  and  life  went 
on,  but  there  was  an  aching  void. 

The  civil  war  thrcAv  its  long  shadow  across  our 
sky;  but  there  were  gleams  of  sun  shine  often  seen 
tlirough  the  rifts  of  the  overhanging  clouds.  The 
defeat  of  our  armies,  the  surrender  and  the  recon- 
struction period  made  life  almost  unbearable  for 
a  Avhile.  In  the  midst  of  it  all,  the  greatest  sorrow 
came  when  the  loving  mother  was  taken  from 
us.  And,  not  a  great  while  after,  father  closed  his 
eyes  in  death,  and  then,  after  a  few  years,  the 
eldest  brother  followed  mother  and  father  to  the 
spirit  land.  But,  in  the  midst  of  such  sore  be- 
reavements, pleasures  brightened  up  the  pathway 
of  life,  and  we  have  found  it  true,  that  God's  grace 
is  sufficient,  even  in  the  hours  of  the  sorest  afflic- 
tions. 

The  most  trying  period  of  the  war  was  Sherman's 
march  through  the  country,  robbing,  burning  and 
killing.  He  said,  "war  is  hell,''  and,  of  course,  to 
make  his  remarks  true,  he  resorted  to  everything 
that  would  afflict  an  already  improverished  people, 
or  that  would  humiliate  and  goad  them  to  despera- 
tion. It  will  take  a  century  to  efface  the  memories 
of  those  dark  days,  along  the  track  of  his  march; 
and,  if  history  does  him  justice,  the  name  of  Sher- 
man will  rank  with  that  of  Nero,  in  all  time  to 
come— a  synonym  for  cruelty.  I  do  not  suppose 
Sherman  ever  burnt  a  house,  stole  a  watch,  insulted 
a  lady,  robbed  a  hen  roost  or  took  the  last  mouth- 
ful of  meat  from  a  poor  woman  and  her  hungry 
children;  but,  he  sent  out  his  men  to  do  all  those 
things,  and  they  did  them,  and  a  thousand  other 


358 

things  equally  as  bad.  In  other  words,  Sherman 
made  war  on  women  and  children,  by  raking  the 
country,  as  if  Avith  a  fine  tooth  comb,  reducing  to  a 
state  of  beggary  the  people  over  whom  he  ran. 
Every  neighborhood  had  its  stories  of  cruelty  to  re- 
late after  the  army  had  passed,  and  these  stories 
of  cruelty  came  mostly  from  the  women.  Mrs. 
McNeil  told  me  that  she  had  just  bought  a  buggy 
that  she  might  be  able  to  attend  church.  Sherman's 
soldiers  came,  and  finding  she  had  some  nice  hams, 
they  determined  to  take  them;  and,  to  carry  them 
off,  they  took  her  new  buggy,  threw  in  the  hams, 
with  some  sacks  of  corn,  and  started  off.  The  old 
lady  protested  and  pleaded  with  them  not  to  take 
her  buggy.  But,  they  simj)ly  laughed  in  her  face, 
and  told  her  she  ought  to  be  thankful  they  had  not 
burned  her  " d  old  house,''  and  drove  away. 

In  another  neighborhood  a  soldier  filled  his  can- 
teen with  molasses,  and  then,  taking  a  quid  of 
tobacco  out  of  his  mouth,  put  it  into  the  jug,  out 
of  which  he  poured  the  molasses.  The  woman  of 
the  house  asked  him  why  he  did  such  a  naughty 
thing.  "Oh,"  said  he,  "the  next  man  who  comes 
along  and  fills  his  canteen,  will  find  that  tobacco 
in  the  jug,  and  he'll  think  you  put  it  in  there  to 
poison  him,  and  he'll  be  sure  to  burn  your  house." 
And  going  out  he  walked  by  a  pig  pen,  shot  down 
the  old  woman's  only  hog  and  went  on  his  way,  a 
hero  indeed. 

Kev.  Henry  Hayes,  lived  out  just  south  of 
Ealeigh,  and  when  the  Yankees  were  camped 
around  the  city  they  went  in  quest  of  plunder  to 
his  house,  as  they  did  to  all  others.  They  took 
all  his  chickens,  save  one  rooster  and  were  chasing 
that,  when  Mr.  Hayes  went  out  and  begged  Sher- 
man's chicken  stealer  not  to  take  that  rooster, 
at.  he  was  an  old  man  and  had  been  used  all  his  life, 
to  hearing  roosters  crow  for  day.     By  that  time 


INCIDENTS    xVNI)   ANF.CDOTES. 


359 


Yankee  Bummer. 


360  \yhitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  rooster  had  been  caught,  and  the  thief,  who 
held  him,  told  Mr.  Hayes  he  would  leave  him  the 
rooster  if  he,  Mr.  Hayes,  would  give  him  a  dinner. 
The  rooster  was  put  in  the  coop,  while  the  Yankee 
was  eating,  but  as  soon  as  the  Yankee  arose  from 
the  table  he  took  the  rooster  from  the  coop  and 
wrung  his  head  off;  and  then,  with  a  feather-bed 
on  his  back  and  a  half  dozen  or  more  chickens  in 
a  bag  taken  from  Mr.  Hayes,  he  walked  off  saying : 
^There's  your  old  rooster;  if  you'll  stick  his  head 
on  right,  he'll  do  all  the  crowing  you  will  want  to 
hear,  in  the  morning."     Another  hero ! 

Some  of  Sherman's  heroes  took  an  old  man  from 
his  home,  down  the  hill,  saying  they  were  going  to 
hang  him,  if  he  did  not  furnish  them  with  some- 
thing to  drink.  Soon  they  came  back  by  the  house 
and  seeing  the  aged  wife,  they  sang  out:  ^^Old 
A^'oman,  you'll  find  the  old  man  hanging  by  a  grape 
^'ine  down  the  hill  there."  But,  turning  her  eyes 
down  the  hill  she  saAV  the  husband  coming.  An- 
other batch  of  soldiers  coming  down  the  hill,  the 
other  way,  doubtless  saved  the  old  man's  neck. 

My  mother  said  she  guessed  that  at  least  five 
hundred  of  Sherman's  thieves  ransacked  her  bureau 
drawers  in  a  single  day;  and  at  least  half  that 
number  cursed  her;  and  not  a  few  threatened  to 
shoot  her.  A  book  as  big  as  Webster's  Unabridged 
Dictionary  would  not  be  large  enough  to  contain 
the  accounts  of  rascality,  robbery  and  ruin,  of  which 
Sherman's  men  were  guilty,  from  the  time  they  left 
Atlanta  until  they  reached  Raleigh. 

The  only  commendable  thing  I  heard  of  their 
doing  was  the  hanging  of  a  man  hj  the  heels.  He 
posed  as  a  Union  man  during  the  war,  and  when 
Sherman's  army  was  approaching  his  house  he  went 
ont  and  met  the  bummers,  and  told  them  how  glad 
he  was  to  see  them ;  that  he  was  one  of  them  at  heart 
and  had  been  praying  for  them  to  come.     In  short, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  361 

lif:  welcomed  them  to  his  house,  and  told  them  to 
make  themselves  at  home.  They  took  him  at  his 
word,  and  soon  cleaned  out  the  smoke  house,  the 
pantry,  the  poultry  yard,  and  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  sideboards  and  bureaus;  and  finally 
took  the  rings  from  his  wife's  fingers  and  the  bobs 
from  her  ears.  At  length  he  began  to  remonstrate ; 
but,  they  said  to  him :  ^'You  are  one  of  us,  and  you 
know  3^ou  told  us  to  make  ourselves  at  home.'' 
Finally,  when  about  to  leave  they  took  him  out  and 
hung  him  by  the  heels,  and  left  him  so  hanging, 
with  a  placard  pinned  on  his  back  saying :  ^^A  man 
who  will  not  stand  for  his  own  side  is  not  fit  to  be 
hung  by  the  neck." 

When  I  heard  of  that  affair  I  was  almost  inclined 
to  forgive  some  other  things  Sherman's  men  did. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

School  Facilities  and  Advantages  of  the  Present 
Days — The  Old  Time  School  and  Teacher — 
Some  of  My  Boys — The  Falling  Stars — 
Gander  Fulling. 

What  a  wonderful  work,  for  the  future,  is  being 
done  by  those  good  men  and  women  who  are  con- 
ducting our  public  schools.  Posterity  only  w^ill 
b(j  able  to  fully  appreciate  the  untiring  labors  they 
are  performing.  We  see,  as  the  work  is  going  on 
something  of  what  is  being  accomplished  by  them ; 
but,  when,  in  future  years,  the  historian  turns  his 
eyes  back  upon  this  period,  and  contrasts  it  with 
the  educational  condition  of  fifty  years  ago,  he  will 
be  better  able  to  judge  of  their  Avork  than  we  are 
now,  for  the  reason  that  results  will  then  have  been 
accomplished,  and  their  fruits  will  have  multiplied. 


362 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  attending  a  meeting  of  the 
teachers  of  Wake  County  a  few  days  ago,  at  the 
A.  and  M.  College,  and  greatly  enjoyed  hearing 
the  talks  and  listening  to  the  reports.  Rev.  W.  G. 
Clements,  the  able  and  most  efficient  county  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  presided  over  the 
meeting,  and  it  was  apparent  that  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  county, 
had  a  photograph  in  his  mind  of  every  school-house, 
was  acquainted  with  every  teacher  and  school  com- 
mitteeman, and  knew  just  what  was  needed  at  each 
and  every  place;  in  short,  that  he  was  as  well 
acquainted  with  his  work,  in  all  of  its  details,  as 
a  farmer  could  be  of  the  affairs  on  his  farm. 

At  that  meeting  I  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
a  most  sensible  and  practical  talk  by  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  Prof.  J.  Y. 
Joyner.  He  seemed  to  know  the  State  as  well  as 
Mr.  Clements  knew  the  county,  and  was  quite  as 
well  informed  as  to  the  needs  of  his  larger  field  as 
]Mr.  Clements  was  of  the  needs  of  his  smaller  field. 
I  never  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  Prof.  Joyner  be- 
fore; but  he  impressed  me  as  being  a  most  capable, 
earnest,  zealous  and  untiring  public  officer,  so  much 
so  that  I  think  I  shall  vote  for  him  for  another 
term. 

Yes,  those  men  and  women,  upon  whose  faces  I 
looked  that  day,  have  in  charge  the  dearest,  the 
most  sacred  interests  of  the  fathers  and  mothers 
of  this  land,  and  they  have  opportunities  for  doing 
gcod  that  angels  well  might  covet. 

The  subject  under  consideration,  at  the  meeting 
referred  to,  was  the  improvement  of  school  build- 
ings and  grounds.  That  means  progress,  in  many 
ways;  and  bespeaks  for  the  teachers  culture  in 
taste  as  well  as  advancement  in  literary  endeavors. 
Wonderful  strides  are  being  made  now  in  every 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  36^ 

department  of  school  work,  for  which  every  pat- 
riotic and  phihinthropic  heart  will  rejoice. 

What  a  contrast  between  the  well  disciplined 
scliool  of  this  day  and  one  I  attended  Avhen  a  boy. 
My  teacher  was  a%  ery  accomplished  scholar ;  indeed, 
he  was  an  ex-lawyer — had  seen  better  days — but 
had  fallen  on  account  of  his  love  of  strong  drink. 
As  the  boys  used  to  say  of  him,  "sometimes  drunk 
and  seldom  sober,''  was  literally  true. 

Many  a  morning  the  children  were  in  the  school 
room  an  hour  or  two  before  the  teacher  would  make 
his  appearance.  We  kncAV  what  that  meant — he 
Avas  on  a  spree.  We  were  not  afraid  of  him;  on 
the  contrary,  we  expected  a  good  time  that  day. 
When  he  did  come  he  was  full  of  fun  and  frolic,  and 
instead  of  calling  us  into  school,  he  would  join  in 
our  sports  or  propose  and  lead  in  some. 

In  those  days  Ave  boys  Avere  very  martial  in  feel- 
ing, and,  in  imitation  of  the  militia  musters,  we 
Avould  drill  at  every  playtime.  We  had  wooden 
guns  and  paper  cocked  hats,  a  la  Napoleon,  and 
real  soldiers  Ave  thought  Ave  were. 

Our  old  teacher  Avhen  about  half  drunk,  imagined 
he  was  a  first-class  drill  master,  and  for  hours  he 
Avould  stagger  around  and  ring  out  his  commands 
to  us  boys,  AAith  as  much  earnestness  and  interest 
as  if  he  had  been  a  drill  master  at  West  Point,  or 
in  regular  service.  It  was  fun  to  the  boys,  espe- 
cially when,  as  it  not  unfrequently  happened,  he'd 
stumble  and  fall  at  full  length.  Such  exercises 
would  usually  sober  him,  and  then  Ave'd  all  go  ''to 
books."  He  was  a  fine  teacher — in  fact,  he  was  a 
well  educated  man,  and  before  liquor  had  ruined 
his  prospects  and  made  shipwreck  of  his  ambitions, 
lie  was,  it  was  said,  a  good  lawyer. 

Speaking  of  drinking  and  its  terrible  effects,  I  am 
reminded  of  some  very  noble-hearted  young  men  of 
the  past,  who  fell  early  in  life,  on  account  of  drink. 


364:  ^YHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

I  have  three  in  mind  at  this  moment,  who  were 
about  the  same  age,  with  whom  I  was  well  ac- 
quainted. They  were  all  educated  and  belonged 
to  some  of  the  best  families  of  the  county  and  city ; 
in  fact,  to  families  of  wealth.  Two  of  them  were 
lawj'ers,  one  of  whom  was  said  to  have  been  the 
most  brilliant  young  man  of  that  day.  Two  of 
them  served  in  the  Legislature  for  a  term  or  more; 
and,  as  I  remember  now,  there  were  not,  in  the 
county,  any  young  men  who  were  more  popular  or 
had  brighter  i)rospects  than  they.  One  of  them 
died  in  his  ojSice,  all  alone,  another  died,  as  I  heard, 
on  the  highway;  the  other,  the  most  brilliant  of  the 
three,  lingered  until  brought  to  absolute  want,  and 
dropped  out  of  life  as  a  falling  leaf,  almost  without 
notice.  They  were  all  good  young  men,  before 
liquor  had  beguiled  and  ruined  them,  and  as  such 
I  love  their  memory. 

I  met  two  of  my  boys  the  other  day — I  mean  two 
boys  who  used  to  go  to  school  to  me  when  I  taught 
my  first  school  in  1848,  fifty-six  years  ago.Yes,  I 
knew  them;  but  how  weatherbeaten !  And  how 
white  their  heads!  It  seems  so  strange  to  me  that 
people  will  grow  old  and  wrinkled,  and  become 
sloop-shouldered.  And  just  to  think  that  some  of 
those  old  people  were  my  pupils.  It's  enough  to 
raise  the  suspicion  in  the  minds  of  the  readers 
that  I  am  growing  old  too.  But,  to  offset  that 
suspicion  I  will  compare  heads  with  any  thirty-year- 
old,  and  will  prove  by  my  black  hair,  (which  is 
neither  artificial  nor  dyed),  that  I  am  only  forty- 
five,  and  the  rise. 

I  was  glad  to  meet  the  old  boys,  for,  in  addition 
to  the  pleasure  of  a  handshake  with  them,  their 
eyes  and  their  voices  brought  up  recollections,  as 
well  as  other  eyes  and  voices,  tliat  are  very  sacred 
to  me.  How  old  are  those  boys?  One  said  he  was 
seventy-six;  the  other  is  seventy-four.     ]May  they 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  365 

live  to  be  as  old  as  Moses;  and,  climbing  up  on 
Nebo's  summit,  view   the  promised  land,   ere  the 
death  angel  calls  for  them.     There  are  not  many 
of  the  old  boys  and  girls  now  living,  and  in  a  very 
few  years  the  last  one  will  be  gone,  and  the  hand 
that  writes  this  letter  will  have  penned  its  last  sen- 
tence.    While  we  are  living,  may  we  so  order  our 
courses  as  that  we  shall  meet  at  the  Beautiful  Gate, 
and  receive  the  plaudit,  ''well  done!" 
*     *     * 
I  was  not  awake  that  night  when  the  stars  were 
falling,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-three;  but  Uncle  John's  ''Old 
Bob''  told  me  while  the  hair  stood  straight  up  on 
my  head,  that  he  "seed  ev'ry  blessed  wun  uv  dem 
stars  before  dey  hit  de  ground.     He  Avas  'possum 
hunting,  and  his  dog  had  just  treed,  and  he'd  shined 
the  'possum's  eyes,  and  was  getting  ready  to  cut 
the  tree  down  when,  as  he  said,  the  stars  began  to 
rain  down. 

"Did  any  of  them  hit  you  Uncle  Bob?"  I  asked. 
"No  honey,  not  exactly,  but  dey  wus  as  thick  as 
litenen  bugs  all  roun'  me,  en  I  had  to  fite  'em  like 
fitin'  skeeters;  and,  bless  your  sole  honey,  es  good 
as  I  luv  'possum,  I  left  dar,  and  if  ever  you  seed 
an  old  nigger  run  he  didn't  hole  a  lite  to  me.  I 
tore  fru  de  woods  jes  like  de  debbil  was  arter  me, 
and  didn't  stop  to  ketch  my  breff  t'wil  I  got  to  Mars 
Tom's  waggin  shelter,  and  by  dat  time  de  ground 
was  kivered  wid  stars,  and  day  was  sizzin  on  de 
veth  jes  like  hot  iun  in  a  tub  o'  water." 

Uncle  Bob,"  I  asked,  "were  those  stars  hot,  do 
vou  reckon?" 

"I  don't  recken  nothin  bout  it.  Why,  chile-,  dey 
was  so  hot  dey  skorch'd  de  groun  en  made  it  smoke 
dis  de  same  as  a  tar  kill." 


366  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

"How  long  did  tliej  atsij  on  the  ground,  Uncle 
Bob?"     I  asked. 

"T'wel  dey  kooFd  ofe.  But  Lawd  honey,  I  cudn't 
tell  you  de  time  o'  nite,  I  was  dat  skeer'd." 

"Couldn't  you  tell  by  looking  at  the  seven  stars, 
what  time  it  was,  Uncle  Bob?'' 

"Why  de  seben  stars  was  de  very  fuss  wuns  dat 
fell;  en  dar  kem  de  dipper,  and  de  north  star,  en 
de  big  A,  en  Job's  cofln;  en,  bless  yer  sole  honey, 
de  even,  en  de  mawnin  stars  bofe  fell  at  de  same 
time,  en  rite  on  top  o'  dem  dar  cum  de  ellen-j^ard. 
Ef  I  hadn't  got  to  Mars  Tom's  waggin  shelter  time 
I  did,  I'd  a  bin  burnt  up  fer  sho  nuff.  No  honey, 
I  didn't  stay  to  git  dat  'possum,  you  hear  me." 

Yes,  I  was  asleep  and  did  not  see  that  wonderful 
meteoric  display,  but  I  heard  many  others  talk 
about  it,  and  all  of  them  said  it  was  a  most  brilliant 
as  well  as  a  most  alarming  phenomenon. 

I  never  saw  a  "gander  pulling,"  but  I  missed 
seeing  one  only  a  day.  I  arrived  at  Mr.  McLeod's 
one  Friday  evening,  when  I  was  carrying  the  mail, 
in  my  boyhood,  and  not  seeing  "Sandy,"  his  son, 
(who  by  the  way,  was  no  other  than  Mr.  Alexander 
McLeod,  of  Lumberton,  N.  C),  I  asked  his  sister, 
then  a  young  lady,  but  afterward  Mrs.  Pullen,  where 
he  was.  I  understood  her  to  say  that  he  had  gone 
to  a  candy  pulling.  In  a  short  while  he  came  home, 
and  at  the  supper  I  asked  him  about  the  candy  pul- 
ling he  had  attended  that  day.  He  and  all  the 
family  laughed  at  my  question  and  I  was  no  little 
embarrassed  for  a  moment,  as  I  knew  I  must  have 
made  a  blunder  in  some  way.  It  was  soon  explained 
to  me  that  it  was  a  "gander  pulling,"  and  not  a 
candy  pulling,  as  I  understood  it  to  have  been.  I 
said  no  more,  for  I  did  not  wish  to  expose  my 
ignorance  by  enquiring  what  a  gander  pulling  was. 
Next  morning,  hoAvever,  I  found  out.  Just  before 
T  reached  Rollins'  Store,  I  passed  the  place  where 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  367 

the  pulling  occurred  the  day  before.  I  noticed  a 
slender  sapling  that  had  been  trimmed  up  to  the 
top  and  bent  down  so  that  one  on  horse-back  could 
almost  reach  it.  Mr.  Rollins  explained  to  me  at 
the  breakfast  that  was  Avhere  the  gander  pulling 
took  place  the  day  before. 

I  will  describe  the  pulling  as  he  described  it  to 
me.  To  the  limber  sappling,  bent  down,  an  old 
gander  is  tied  by  his  feet,  so  he  can  use  his  wings 
to  flutter  around.  A  prize  is  offered  to  the  rider 
who,  going  under  that  pole  at  full  speed,  can  jerk 
that  gander's  head  off.  A  man  on  each  side,  with 
whip  in  hand  gives  the  horse  a  lick  just  about  the 
time  the  rider  is  reaching  for  the  gander's  neck. 
So,  in  the  first  place  it's  uncertain  about  getting 
the  neck ;  and  in  the  next  place  the  neck's  so  tough, 
and  the  pole  is  so  limber,  and  the  horse  is  going  at 
such  speed,  a  fellow  don't  have  much  time  to  wring. 
It  takes  hours;  sometimes,  Mr.  Rollins  told  me,  it 
tiikes  half  a  day,  to  get  the  head.  That's  a  gander 
pulling  as  it  used  to  be  in  Moore  County. 

If  the  ganders  of  those  times  were  as  tough  as 
one  I  had  baked  for  dinner,  some  years  ago,  I  am 
not  surprised  it  took  the  pullers  half  a  day  to  get 
his  head.  Mine  was  cooked,  off  and  on,  for  a  week. 
My  cook  did  not  believe  Noah  had  that  gander  in 
the  ark;  she  rather  thought  he  was  one  of  Methu- 
salairs  that  survived  the  flood  by  roosting  high  and 
swimming  around.  The  cook  might  have  been  mis- 
taken. 


368  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

Kind  Heavenly  Father — Wyoming  Sot  el — Tongue 
That  Waggles — The  Young  Temperance  Orator 
and  His  Mule-Back  Ride. 

What  a  kind  Heavenly  Father  is  ours !  He  feeds 
and  clothes  us,  gives  us  health,  strength  and  op- 
portunity, and  showers  along  our  pathway  blessings 
innumerable ;  but  what  ungrateful  wretches  we  are ! 
EA^en  we  who  profess  to  love  Him  show  ingratitude. 
We  eat,  we  drink,  Ave  kill  time ;  we  disregard  the  in- 
junction :  "Gro  teach,  as  you  have  been  taught ;  for- 
getting that  we  are  stewards  of  the  Master,  who 
will  require  of  us,  at  His  coming,  how  we  spent 
life;  whether  Ave  put  our  candle  on  a  candle  stick 
or  hid  it  under  a  bushel ;  whether  Ave  lived  to  save 
souls,  or  lived  to  gratify  our  lusts. 

Yes,  I'd  like  to  do  away  with  that  ground  hog, 
the  potato  bugs  and  other  bugs,  and  so  arrange  the 
advent  of  Easter  as  to  be  able  to  have  early  vege- 
tables. Such  long  winters,  with  wood  and  provi- 
sions high,  leave  a  fellow's  pocket  book  so  empty  it's 
hard  to  run  through  the  spring  months.  We  used 
to  be  able  to  have  ham  and  eggs,  in  the  early  spring ; 
but  eggs  at  two  cents  a  piece  are  too  high  for  the 
average  toAvn  people;  so,  we'll  be  obliged  to  fall 
back  on  herrings  for  breakfast,  a  little  soup  for  din- 
ner, and  Avhat's  left  over  for  supper,  until  vegetables 
come.  But,  so  Ave  keep  fat  and  good  looking,  Avhat 
difference  does  it  make,  AA^h ether  we  have  a  bowl  of 
soup  or  a  turkey  for  dinner,  a  herring  or  fried 
chicken  for  breakfast,  and  no  supper  at  all? 

By  the  way,  we  Americans  eat  too  much,  any- 
how— I  mean,  when  Ave  can  get  it.  It  Avouldn't  do 
for  some  of  us  to  eat  dinner  every  day  at  the  "Wyom- 
ing House,"  at  Selma,  Avhere  they  feed  so  high. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  369 

I  can  get  along  pretty  well  at  home,  where  rations 
are  so  short,  there's  no  danger  of  foundering;  but, 
I  think  I'd  run  a  heavy  risk  if  I  had  to  eat  regularly 
at  the  Wyoming.  I  took  dinner  there  the  other  day, 
and  but  for  the  fact  that  I  sat  near  tAyo  yery  loyely 
young  ladies,  whose  presence  somewhat  restrained 
me,  I  might  haye  made  myself  sick.  As  it  was, 
I,  with  twenty  or  thirty  others,  partook  bounti- 
fully of  a  yery  fine  dinner. 

After  dinner,  the  gentlemen  haying  congregated 
in  the  office,  some  one  asked,  "Haye  you  seen  the 
Eock  with  a  Tongue,  which  Mr.  Mitchener  has  here 
on  exhibition?"  A  dozen  gentlemen  answered,  "No; 
where  is  it?" 

Mr.  Mitchener,  in  his  obliging  way,  said :  'Fol- 
low me  gentlemen,  and  I'll  show  it  to  you,"  and  out 
went  a  dozen  gentlemen  to  see  the  curiosity. 

A  rock  standing  under  the  edge  of  the  piazza  was 
seen,  looking  like  a  pillar.  Mr.  Mitchener,  in  real 
showman  style,  began :  "I  claim,  gentlemen,  to  haye 
the  only  rock  in  the  Ayorld  with  a  tongue.  It  is  a 
natural  formation.  This  rock  was  dug  up  on  the 
bank  of  the  Neuse  riA^er  while  getting  stone  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  large  building."  While  he 
AA'-as  saying  this  the  dozen  gentlemen  stood  in  a 
semi-circle  with  their  eyes  steadfastly  fixed  on  "the 
only  rock  in  the  world  with  a  tongue;"  and  the 
little  boy,  whom  the  school  master  set  in  a  corner 
to  catch  a  mouse  with  a  pair  of  tongues  as  it  should 
come  out  of  its  hole,  could  not  haye  watched  that 
hole  closer  than  those  twelye  men  watched  that 
"only  rock  in  the  world  with  a  tongue."  They  were 
men  who  had  seen  enough  of  the  world  to  know 
that  it  is  full  of  sells;  therefore,  they  were  looking 
sbarply  and  listening  attentiA^ely.  Mr.  E.  W.  Ayers 
and  Mr.  W.  M.  Chauncy,  of  Washington,  as  well 
as  Mr.  William  Hall,  Mayor  of  Aurora,  placed 
24 


370  whitaker\s  reminiscences, 

a  hand  each  on  the  tongue,  while  Mr.  J.  B.  White- 
hurst,  of  Washington,  edged  his  way  to  the  front, 
and  got  down  close  to  the  stone,  to  make  sure  that 
no  trick  was  played.  The  others  stooping  around 
with  their  hands  upon  their  knees,  gazing  as  in- 
tently were  Mr.  W.  Thompson,  of  Aurora;  Mr. 
W.  E.  Swindell,  Maj.  E.  T.  Stewart,  Messrs,  J.  F. 
Buckman ;  J.  Tayloe,  County  Treasurer ;  B.  A.  Moss, 
planing  mill  man ;  F.  C.  Kugler,  saw-mill  man,  and 
W.  C.  Eodman,  County  Attorney,  all  of  Washing- 
ton, N.  C.  The  tableau  was  unique.  The  interest 
was  intense,  while  Mr.  Mitchener  continued : 

^'The  tongue  itself  weighs  twenty-eight  pounds: 
the  other  part,  in  which  the  tongue  fits  perfectly, 
is  estimated  to  weigh  150  pounds.  As  you  see,  it's 
a  natural  formation.  And  right  here,  gentlemen, 
I  will  call  your  attention  to  the  most  remarkable 
thing  about  it,  accidentally  discovered  by  one  of 
the  family.  But,  first,  I  would  say,  it  is  not  on  re- 
cord, in  history,  that  this  part  of  the  world  has  ever 
had  a  famine ;  but,  gentlemen,  I  will  show  you  that 
it  has;  or  as  the  lawyers  say,  will  give  you  good 
circumstantial  evidence  to  that  effect.  And,  gentle- 
men, you'll  be  surprised  at  the  wonderful  infiuence, 
what  I  am  about  to  show  you,  has  on  one's  mind. 
Now,  whether  you  believe  me  or  not,  every  time  that 
tongue  hears  the  dinner  bell  ring,  day  or  night,  it 
moves  or  waggles.  It's  movement  is  not  only  per- 
ceptible to  the  eye  (here  a  gentlemen  put  on  a 
second  pair  of  spectacles),  but  is  equally  per- 
ceptible to  the  touch.  Just  place  your  fingers 
lightly  on  the  tongue,  gentlemen,  (fingers  went 
down  as  in  a  game  of  ^'William  Trimble  Toe"),  and 
watch  it  while  I  ring  the  dinner  bell." 

Everything  was  as  silent  as  death.  And  there 
was  a  picture  that  would  do  credit  to  Puck  or  Judge, 
as  that  dozen  gentlemen  were  waiting  for  the  bell 
to  ring.     It  rang;  but  the  tongue  didn't  "waggle." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  371 

"I  didn't  see  it  move/'  said  the  gentleman,  with 
the  two  pairs  of  spectacles. 

"I'll  ring  again,"  said  Mr.  Mitchener,  which  he 
did  vigorously. 

"It  hasn't  moved  yet,"  said  several  voices  in 
concert. 

"That's  because  it  hasn't  HEARD  the  bell  ring 
yet,"  said  Mr.  Mitchener. 

"SOLD  !"  they  shouted,  jerking  their  fingers  from 
the  stone  as  if  it  had  been  red  hot  iron.  And  what 
a  roar  of  laughter  followed ! 

Mr.  Mitchener  said  he  had  fished  in  the  waters 
of  Florida,  in  the  mountain  streams  of  New  York 
and  in  the  ponds  and  streams  of  his  own  native 
county,  but,  on  the  26th  of  February,  1905,  he  caught 
the  biggest  string  of  suckers  of  his  life,  from  the 
waters  of  Eastern  Carolina. 

And  all  because,  as  I  say,  they  had  eat  so  much  of 
Mr.  Mitchener's  good  dinner,  and  were  feeling  so 
good  they  didn't  have  the  heart  to  suspect  the  man 
who  had  fed  them  so  well. 

I  should  add  that  Mr.  J.  K.  Reas,  of  Edenton, 
Vv  as  a  by-stander  and  a  looker-on,  and  greatly  en- 
joyed the  performance  as  he  had  on  a  former  occa- 
sion, been  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the 
order  of  the  "Rock  With  a  Tongue  that  Waggles," 
and  is,  I  imagine,  a  very  staunch  friend  of  "Wyom- 
ing Lodge,"  and  especially  of  the  Master  of  the 
Lodge. 

When  Mr.  Mitchener  is  showing  this  rock  to  ladies 
he  speaks  of  it  as  a  female  and  emphasizes  the  re- 
mark :  "The  old  lady  must  have  died  hard."  One 
of  the  group  will  be  sure  to  ask:  "How  do  you 
know,  Mr.  Mitchener,  it  was  a  woman?" 

"By  the  size  of  the  tongue,"  he  replies. 

A  lady  writing  to  me,  complimenting  my  sketches, 
quotes  the  line: 


372  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

"A  little  nonsense,  now  and  then,  is  relished  by 
the  best  of  men,'^  and  adds : 

^^And  by  the  women,  too." 

Soon  after  the  war  the  temperance  cause  was  re- 
Ylved  in  Ealeigh  by  the  organization  of  a  Council 
of  the  Friends  of  Temperance,  and  quite  a  number 
of  temperance  speakers  was  developed.  These  went 
out  into  the  country,  and  to  towns  as  well,  and  as 
a  result  of  such  visits,  the  cause  of  temperance  soon 
began  to  spread  over  the  State.  They  didn't  claim 
to  be  orators,  but  they  made  plain,  iDractical  temper- 
ance talks,  which  the  people  apiDreciated,  as  was 
eAidenced  by  the  fact  that  a  Council  was  organized 
at  almost  every  place  visited. 

We  had,  however,  a  young  man  here,  who  was  not 
only  full  of  energy  and  temperance  enthusiasm, 
but  had  quite  a  sufficiency  of  self-esteem,  as  well, 
and  because  of  that  fact  he  developed  very  rapidly ; 
and,  before  his  friends  had  any  idea  that  he  could 
make  a  temperance  speech,  he  had  one  written 
out,  anecdotes  and  all,  and  was  ready  to  take  the 
stump.  No  one  knew  it,  but  he  had  sent  out  some 
appointments,  the  first  of  which  was  up  the  Sea- 
board Air  Line,  in  the  direction  of  Moncure,  and 
all  unknown  to  his  Ealeigh  friends,  he  took  the 
train  one  evening  and  started  out  on  his  first  temper- 
ance tour.  I  don't  know  whether  or  not  the  world 
would  ever  have  heard  of  that  first  trip  if  Capt. 
Woodson,  the  city  editor  of  the  "Daily  News,''  had 
not  got  on  track  of  it  and  scooped  it  in.  At  any 
rate,  the  first  intimation  I  had  of  the  matter  I  got 
from  the  "News,"  and  I  assure  the  news-gatherers 
of  today  that  Woodson  made  a  rich  thing  of  it ;  for, 
beginning  with  the  young  orator's  starting  from 
Raleigh,  he  gave  in  detail,  and  highly  colored,  all 
the  incidents  of  the  trip.  He  described  the  young 
man's  appearance — his  thoughtful  expression  of 
countenance,  as  he  walked  to  and  fro  on  the  plat- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  373 

form,  at  the  depot,  while  waiting  for  the  train  to 
start ;  a  book,  containing  his  speech,  under  his  arm, 
and  he,  in  the  meantime,  saying  over  his  speech  to 
himself.  Every  now  and  then  he'd  slap  his  hands, 
Avhen,  in  his  speech,  he  would  come  to  a  place  where 
he  thought  applause  should  come  in. 

When,  at  last,  the  train  moved  off,  he  opened 
his  book  and  read  aloud,  as  if  delivering  his  speech 
to  a  great  crowd,  stamping  his  feet  whenever  he 
came  to  the  cross  mark  which  meant  applause,  and 
stamping  and  slapping  his  hands,  too,  when  he  came 
to  a  mark  which  meant  "great  applause." 

When  he  had  gone  through  the  speech,  he  closed 
his  book,  buttoned  his  coat,  and  putting  on  the 
dignified  expression  of  Judge  Pearson,  he  sat  bolt 
upright,  casting  his  eyes,  as  if  in  profound  thought, 
on  the  floor  of  the  car  in  front  of  him.  The  train 
stopped,  but  so  intently  was  he  gazing  and  so  deeply 
was  he  meditating,  he  failed  to  notice  that  he  had 
arrived  at  the  station  of  his  destination.  The  cap- 
tain, after  he  had  pulled  the  bell-cord,  put  his  head 
inside  and  said : 

"Look-a-here,  Mister;  if  you  are  going  to  get  off 
at  this  station  you'd  better  hustle,  for  the  train 
is  moving."  He  sprang  to  the  door,  and  instead 
of  using  the  steps  and  steadying  himself  down,  he 
jumped  out  and  turned  a  somer-sault  into  a  ditch. 
When  he  got  up  and  looked  about  he  was  surprised 
to  see  no  committee  of  reception  and  no  carriage 
in  sight  as  he  expected,  for  the  place  at  which  he  was 
to  speak  was  a  mile  or  two  distant  from  the  road. 
But,  just  then  he  saw  a  fellow  coming  full  tilt  on 
a  bare-back  mule,  at  a  rate  that  indicated  haste. 
He  rode  right  up  to  where  the  orator  stood,  and 
without  as  much  as  saying  "good  evening,"  he 
blurted  out:  "Is  you  the  fellow  that's  to  speak  at 
tlie  school  house  to-night?" 

"I  am  Mr.   S.,  the  temperance  speaker,  who  is 


374  whitaker's  reminiscences 


advertised  to  deliver  an  address  at  the  xlcademy  this 
evening/'  he  replied  in  a  very  dignified  manner. 

^^All  right,  Mr.  S.,  I've  come  for  you.  Get  up 
on  that  stump  and  bounce  up  behind  me;  and  be 
quick  about  it  for  this  durned  mule  won't  stand  still 
a  minute.  And  mind  you  don't  let  your  heels  hit 
her  in  the  flanks ;  if  you  do  I'll  be  drat  if  she  don't 
spill  us  both." 

The  picture  which  Woodson  drew  of  that  mule- 
back  ride,  the  temperance  orator  hugging  the  fellow 
with  one  arm,  holding  his  book  in  the  other  hand, 
while  his  legs  stood  out  at  almost  right-angles,  was 
ludicrous  indeed. 

"Where  am  I  to  get  supper?"  asked  the  temper- 
ance orator,  as  the  mule  went  loping  along  in  jack- 
rabbit  style. 

"No  time  for  supper  now.  Our  folks,  all  round 
here,  done  eat  supper  an  hour  ago.  We  are  gwine 
right  straight  to  the  school-house;  meeting  begins 
at  early  candle  light,  and  it's  that  right  now." 

Soon  they  reached  the  school  house  and  the  orator 
found  himself  on  the  ground  once  more,  much 
tc»  his  relief.  A  dozen  people  stood  off  at  a  distance 
and  eyed  him,  as  he  was  pulling  down  his  pants, 
brushing  off  the  hairs  and  otherwise  adjusting  his 
toilet. 

"Mister,"  said  one  of  the  men  standing  near  the 
door;  "it's  time  you  were  beginning  your  meeting; 
night's  are  mighty  short,  and  we  farmers  can't  set 
up  like  you  town  folks,  as  hain't  got  nothing  to  do." 

"But  the  house  is  not  lighted  up,"  replied  the 
orator. 

"  'Twill  be  in  a  minute ;  I  brought  a  candle  along 
for  the  purpose,"  said  the  man,  and  with  that  he 
struck  a  match,  lighted  the  candle  and  stuck  it  on 
a  table.  Of  course  the  orator  couldn't  read  his 
speech  by  such  a  light  and  that  so  low,  and  he 
thought  he'd  not  try  to  do  it.     But,  when  he  got  up, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  375 

he  found  that  his  tumble  into  the  ditch,  the  shock 
he  received  when  he  ascertained  no  committee  with 
a  carriage  had  met  him,  and  the  humiliation  of 
riding  behind  a  man  on  a  bare-back  mule,  had  so 
upset  him,  he  couldn't  think  of  a  word  of  his  speech, 
and  he  had  nothing  else  he  could  draw  upon.  So 
he  finally  hit  upon  the  idea  of  holding  the  candle 
in  one  hand  and  his  book  in  the  other.  And  in  that 
way  he  started  out,  and  went  on  well  enough  till 
he  had  to  turn  a  leaf.  He  managed  to  turn  two  or 
three,  by  putting  the  book  on  the  table,  and  was 
getting  yery  near  to  where  "great  applause''  was 
to  come  in,  when,  in  his  excitement,  he  gaye  the 
candle  a  sudden  lurch  which  overturned  about  a 
teaspoonful  of  hot  tallow  on  his  hand,  and  down 
fell  the  candle  and  the  light  went  out ;  but  the  "great 
applause"  came  in  all  right.  In  his  agitation  the 
orator  trod  upon  the  candle  and  mashed  it  as  flat 
as  a  pancake,  so  it  was  of  no  more  use;  and,  there 
being  no  other  means  of  lighting  up,  the  meeting 
adjourned,  and  the  mule  man  took  the  orator  home 
with  him  to  spend  the  night.  The  nights  were 
hot,  and,  as  the  orator  wished  to  return  to  Raleigh 
the  next  morning,  the  mule  man  told  him  he'd  better 
go  to  bed.  He  did,  but  how  could  a  man  sleep  under 
such  circumstances?  He  could  not,  but  rolled, 
tumbled,  groaned  and  grunted  nearly  the  whole 
night.  Just  before  day,  completely  exhausted,  he 
did  fall  asleep ;  but  before  he  had  had  time  for  even 
a  cat-nap,  the  mule  man  banged  at  his  door,  as  if 
the  house  had  been  on  fire,  saying :  "Mister,  if  you 
want  to  bit  the  train  this  morning  you'd  better 
hustle.     The  mule's  ready  right  now!" 

As  day  was  breaking  our  orator  stei)ped  up  on 
a  stump,  grabbed  his  escort  around  the  body  and 
turned  his  back  upon  the  scenes  and  incidents  of  his 
first  temperance  rally.  By  late  breakfast  time  he 
was  in  Raleigh,  and,  being  as  hungry  as  a  wolf,  he 


376  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Avent  to  the  Yarborougli  House  to  get  his  breakfast. 
Dr.  Bkicknall,  getting  an  inkling  of  the  matter,  sent 
for  Woodson,  and  that's  the  way  the  whole  thing 
got  into  print. 


CHAPTER   XLIX. 

Reasons  for  DrmJdng — 8ome  Other  Things  as  Bad 
as  Drinking — Displaying  Gallantry — Col.  Yar- 
horough  the  Good  Samaritan. 

When  it's  cold  they  drink  to  warm  up ;  when  it's 
hot,  they  drink  to  cool  off;  when  they  are  gloomy, 
they  drink  to  kill  the  blues,  and  keep  on  drinking 
lest  the  blues  return.  They  drink  at  Christmas  and 
on  the  fourth  of  July  because  they  feel  pious  on  the 
one  and  patriotic  on  the  other;  and  they  have  to 
drink  along  between  times  that  they  may  keep  their 
piety  and  patriotism  at  fever  heat. 

I  heard  an  old  soak  giving  his  reasons  for  drink- 
ing the  other  day.  He  said  he  drank  when  he  was 
well  and  felt  all  right  because  it  tasted  so  good; 
he  drank  w^hen  he  felt  badly  because  it  tasted  better 
than  at  any  other  time,  and  he  was  bound  to  drink 
at  odd  times  to  guard  against  the  ^'perhapses !" 

^^What  are  the  "perhapses?"  I  asked. 

^'Snake  and  spider  bites,  chills  and  the  like,'' 
he  said. 

"Has  a  snake  or  spider  ever  bitten  you?"  I  asked. 

"No;  but.  Doctor,  I'm  the  ^fraidest'  of  them 
things  of  anybody  you  ever  saw.  I'm  that  'fraid  of 
spiders  I  always  take  a  big  drink  the  last  thing  be- 
fore going  to  bed.  No,  I've  never  been  bitten,  as 
yet^  but  I'm  expecting  every  night  one  of  them  hairy 
looking  spiders  will  swing  right  down  from  the 
coiling  and  bite  me  on  my  jugular  vein,  and  you 
know,  yourself,  I'd  be  a  dead  man  in  ten  minutes,  if 


INCIDENTS    AND    ANECDOTES.  377 

lit  did.  And,  as  I've  liearn  say  an  ounce  of  preven- 
tion is  worth  a  pound  of  cure,  I  take  the  preven- 
tion.'' 

^^How  about  keeping  off  chills?" 

^'O,  I'll  tell  you  how  that  is,  doctor.  As  long  as 
I've  got  any  of  the  dispensary  at  home  I'm  all 
right.  But  as  soon  as  I  drain  the  last  drop  from 
the  bottle,  I  begin  to  feel  the  malaria  working  on 
me,  and  I  just  know  I'll  have  a  chill  sure  if  I  don't 
go  right  off  to  town  and  get  a  bottle  or  two.  I 
hitch  up  and  start,  and  I  get  chillier  and  chillier, 
and  colder  and  colder,  and  feel  worse  and  worse — 
jiist  like  a  fellow  feels  when  the  grippe's  coming 
on — and  by  the  time  I  get  to  town,  (I'll  tell  you 
the  truth,  doctor),  I've  mighty  nigh  got  a  ager." 

''Your's  is  a  bad  case,"  I  replied.  ^'I'm  afraid 
you  are  about  done  for,  and  old  Alcohol  will  carry 
you  to  the  devil  before  long." 

'^Don't  talk  that  way,  doctor.  I  hate  to  hear  you 
say  anything  like  that;  for  I'm  bound  to  go  to 
heaven.  I  know  I  drink  too  much  right  often,  but 
I  never  get  so  drunk  but  what  I  love  my  Jesus  all 
the  same." 

There  are  thousands,  if  we  may  judge  of  the  mat- 
ter, by  those  whom  we  know,  who  are  drinking  con- 
stantly^, for  no  better  reasons ;  church  members,  too, 
who  are  keeping  their  blood  hot  all  the  time,  spend- 
ing more  money  for  whiskey  than  for  the  gosioel, 
who  are  hoping  to  reach  heaven,  drunk  or  sober. 

But,  after  all,  drinking  liquor  is  not  the  only  sin 
to  which  too  many  of  our  race  are  addicted.  I 
know  some  peoi)le  who  never  taste  liquor ;  who  pride 
themselves  upon  the  fact  that  they  are  total  ab- 
stainers, and  have  a  great  deal  to  say  about  drinking 
and  drunkeness,  who  are  just  as  bad  sinners,  in  some 
other  way. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  man  who  starts  out  to 
make  a  fortune  by  short  cuts,  sharp  practices  and 
shrewd  tradings.     The  very  first  thing  he  does  is 


378  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

to  erase  from  his  Bible  the  golden  rule,  and  insert 
in  its  stead,  ''do  unto  others  as  you  Avould  not  have 
others  do  unto  you ;''  which  means :  get,  if  it  can  be 
done  fairly  and  honestly ;  if  not,  get  anyhow. 

And  the  poor  are  those  who  are  to  suffer  by  their 
cupidity.  I  have  known  men  who  stood  all  right 
in  the  church,  prayed  long  prayers,  and  abused 
drunkards,  who,  in  the  language  of  Christ,  were 
hypocrites,  because  they  devoured  widows'  houses 
and  oppressed  the  poor. 

I  knew  a  church  member  who  loaned  a  tenant  a 
hundred  dollars,  taking  his  note  for  the  amount, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  to  bear  interest  at  six 
per  cent  for  the  whole  year;  but  he  let  the  tenant 
have  only  ninety  dollars;  and  that,  too,  in  monthly 
installments.  So  the  tenant  paid  that  Christian 
( ? )  landlord  sixteen  dollars  interest  on  a  hundred 
dollars,  and  only  had  ninety. 

The  reader  may  ask  why  did  that  tenant  allow 
himself  to  be  thus  swindled?  Because  he  couldn't 
help  himself.  Why  did  the  landlord  swindle  him? 
Because  he  had  him  in  his  power  and  he  cared  not 
for  him  nor  his  family,  so  he  got  what  they  made. 

That  landlord  stood  high  in  the  church,  invited 
the  preachers  to  his  house;  had  prayers,  too,  when 
the  preachers  were  there,  and  talked  lustily  of 
church  affairs.  So  the  preachers  were  bound  to 
think  well  of  him ;  and  he  was  made  a  steward. 

The  poor  tenant  couldn't  say  anything,  because 
he  was  dependent;  and  people  who  are  dependent 
must  keep  their  mouths  shut.  That's  one  side  of  the 
question. 

While  there  are  hardhearted  landlords,  there  are, 
also,  some  very  unreliable  tenants,  (church  mem- 
bers, too ) ,  who  have  to  be  watched,  even  after  they 
give  mortgages,  or  they  will  make  way  with  the 
crop  and  leave  both  the  landlord  and  the  merchant, 
who  furnished  the  supplies,  in  the  lurch. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  379 

A  few  years  ago  a  case  of  this  kind  was  brought 
to  my  attention.     It  was  as  follows :     A  tenant  had 
worked  a  barn  of  tobacco,  and  had  it  ready  for 
market.     The  landlord  intended  that  the  first  load 
of  tobacco,   sold  by  that  tenant,   should  pay   off 
the  guano  bill,  for  which  he  was  responsible.     The 
tenant,  the  night  before  starting  to  market,  told 
the  landlord  he  was  going  to  carry  it  to  the  town 
where  the  guano  debt  was  due ;  and  asked  the  land- 
lord to  be  there  and  see  the  sale.     The  tenant  left 
home  before   day,   and    the  landlord   thought,   of 
course,  he  had  gone  where  he  said  he  was  going.    So, 
after  breakfast  he  drove  there,  in  time  for  the  sales. 
But  his  man  was  not  there.    He  had  gone  to  another 
market,  where  he  sold  his  tobacco  and  pocketed  the 
money,  spending  the  greater  part  of  it  for  such 
things  as  he  desired.     Did  the  landlord  lose  his 
money?     No;  but  he  lost  confidence  in  one  whom 
he   had   trusted   and   believed   to   be   an   upright, 
straightforward  man. 

Getting  money  is  what  men  are  thinking  mostly 
about,  and  I  guess  there  is  more  sin  committed  along 
this  line  than  any  other.  Notwithstanding  Paul 
told  Timothy  that  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil,  the  most  of  people  keep  on  loving  it,  and 
they  love  it  so  well,  they'll  do  almost  any  way  to 
get  it.  Some  will  work  themselves  almost  to  death 
for  it;  some  will  take  short  cuts  to  catch  up  with 
it;  some  will  oppress  the  poor;  some  will  lie  for  it; 
some  will  pick  pockets  for  it;  and,  in  every  other 
conceivable  way  a  great  many— I  may  say  almost 
all — are  striving  after  that  evil  root. 


I  never  believed  that  other  people  cared  very 
much  about  listening  to  one's  complaints ;  so  I  don't 
usuallv  complain ;  if  I  can  help  it.  But,  I  happened 
to  an  accident  the  other  day  that  has  caused  me  no 


380  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

little  annoyance,  because  I  have  been  unable  to 
locomote  with  that  celerity  which  is  expected  of  one 
of  niY  usual  sprightliness ;  and  pain,  because  I  can 
not  be  content  to  lie  abed  or  put  my  leg  in  a  sling. 

It  happened  at  Louisburg  the  other  day.  I  had 
stepped  from  the  cars  and  was  assisting  some  ladies 
down  the  steps,  displaying  a  gallantry  inherited 
from  my  ancestors,  (for  as  far  back  as  the  memory 
of  man  runneth,  they  were  noted  for  waiting  on  the 
ladies) ,  little  thinking  that  my  gallant  services  were 
to  be  rewarded  with  a  downfall.  But,  alas,  so  it 
befell  me.  While  I  was  looking  at  the  ladies  whom 
I  was  assisting,  a  half  dozen  dressing  cases  and 
valises  had  been  set  down,  right  behind  me,  so  near 
to  my  feet,  that  when  I  turned  about  to  shake  hands 
with  my  friends  who  were  ai)proaching,  (and  not 
seeing  the  dressing  cases),  I  took  a  fall  six  feet  long 
and  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds  heavy,  over  all 
the  valises;  and  my  left  knee  coming  in  contact 
with  the  sharp  corner  of  a  dressing  case,  or  a  granite 
pebble,  I  don't  know  which,  I  received  a  very  pain- 
ful hurt,  from  which  I  have  not  entirely  recovered, 
at  this  writing.  I've  had  a  stiff  leg;  yes,  while  in 
Louisburg,  where,  among  my  old  friends,  I  was  so 
desirous  of  showing  off  to  the  very  best  advantage, 
I  had  to  hop — couldn't  help  it.  I  hated  to  admit 
that  I  fell  down.  So,  to  some  who  asked  me  why  I 
walked  with  a  stiff  leg,  I  told  them  what  I  heard  a 
man  say  of  his  stiff  leg,  when  I  was  a  boy.  He 
said  it  represented  his  aristocratic  blood.  ^'Yes," 
said  he,  ^'my  father  was  a  plebian  with  big  hands 
and  feet;  as  active  as  a  cat  and  as  unpolished  as  a 
wild  bear;  but  my  mother  had  blue  blood  in  her 
veins,  and  put  on  aristocratic  airs  and  was  as  stiff 
as  if  she  had  been  made  of  wood  and  gowned  in 
Imckram;  so,  I  got  my  stiff  leg  from  my  mother — 
it's  an  aristocratic  leg." 

Col.  W.  H.  Yarborough,  one  of  my  best  friends — 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  381 

and  I've  got  some  mighty  good  ones,  in  Lonisburg, 
as  Avell  as  elsewhere — saAV  me  hox)ping  around  there, 
and  like  the  good  Samaritan,  he  had  compassion 
upon  me ;  stopping  me  in  front  of  his  store  and  giv- 
ing me  five  dollars  for  my  book.  I  protested,  say- 
ing :  ^^Colonel,  the  book  is  not  published  yet ;  and 
when  it  is  published,  the  price  will  be  only  a  dollar 
and  a  half.'' 

'^Xever  mind  about  that ;  I  want  the  book,  and  I'm 
willing  to  pay  you  five  dollars  for  it." 

I  thought  that  would  cure  my  knee — I  did  feel 
better  for  a  while — but,  after  the  excitement  wore 
off,  and  I  got  home,  it  began  to  hurt  again. 

I  have  been  hopping  about  until  a  few  days  ago, 
when  it  occurred  to  me  that  I  would  set  out  my 
strawberry  plants.  So,  hopping  to  the  tool  house, 
I  got  my  fork-spade  and  long-tooth  rake  and  went 
to  work.  My  wife  soon  came  out  and  said :  "You 
look  like  spading  that  ground  with  that  stiff  kneel" 

"Don't  you  see,"  said  I,  "I  can  stand  on  the  stiff 
leg  and  make  the  other  do  the  spading?"  And  I 
did.  I  set  out  all  my  new  plants,  worked  over  the 
old  bed  and  raked  it  off,  just  in  time  for  the  good 
rain  that  came  that  night  and  all  next  day. 

I  had  a  presentiment  it  was  going  to  rain  soon. 
Old  people  can  tell  Avhen  it's  going  to  rain,  by  their 
corns  and  rheumatics;  but  I'm  not  old  enough  for 
that.  I  think  it's  going  to  rain,  sometimes,  but  it 
dcn't;  and  I  think,  sometimes,  it  won't  rain,  but  it 
dees.  The  only  sign  to  me,  that  has  any  certainty 
is,  to  see  the  rain  falling. 

There  was  wisdom  in  that  old  negro's  answ^er, 
who  replied  to  the  question  of  a  circuit  rider,  who 
reined  his  horse  up  to  the  fence  and  asked :  "Uncle, 
what  do  you  think  of  the  weather?" 

The  old  negro  leaned  upon  his  hoe  handle,  sur- 
veyed the  clouds  attentively  for  a  moment,  looked 
Rl   the  preacher,   surveyed   the  clouds  again   and 


382  whitaker's  reminiscences 


said :  "Boss,  its  my  'pinyun  it'll  rain  harder,  fair 
off,  or  keep  on  drizzling  jes  like  it  is.'' 

"Do  you  think  it's  going  to  rain?"  one  gentleman 
asked  another  in  my  presence,  one  day. 

"I  can't  tell  you  unless  I  was  at  home,"  he 
answered. 

"How's  that?"  the  gentleman  inquired. 

"If  I  was  at  home,  and  should  say,  4t's  going  to 
rain,'  and  my  wife  should  say:  ^No  it  ain't,'  I'd 
know  it  would  rain,  for  she  always  guesses  wrong." 

"Some  people  depend  a  great  deal  on  the  moon 
for  rain,  but  I  put  a  sight  more  dependence  in  an 
old  fashion  thunder  cloud,"  an  old  farmer  face- 
tiously remarked  in  my  hearing  once;  and  I  guess 
he  Avas  right. 

Speaking  of  the  moon  reminds  me  that  some 
people  are  very  much  governed  by  it  in  planting 
seeds.  You  must  plant  such  things  as  grow  in  the 
ground  in  the  "dark  moon,"  and  those  that  grow  on 
the  top  of  the  ground  in  the  "light  moon."  Iheard  a 
very  heated  discussion  on  the  subject,  one  day, 
speaking  of  Irish  potatoes.  One  man  said  he  planted 
in  the  "light  moon"  and  he  made  good  potatoes ;  an- 
other said  he  planted  in  the  "dark  moon,"  and  he 
made  good  potatoes,  and  so  they  had  it.  There  was 
a  gentleman  present  Avhose  potato  crops  had  been 
comparatively  failures  for  several  years,  who,  after 
listening  to  the  controversy  about  the  relative 
excellencies  of  the  "light"  and  the  "dark"  moons, 
arose,  and  said,  as  he  was  about  leaving :  "Thank 
you,  gentlemen,  for  your  information.  I  see  where 
I've  been  making  a  mistake.  Instead  of  planting 
my  potatoes  in  the  "light  moon"  or  the  "dark 
moon,"  I've  been  planting  them  in  the  ground." 

I  never  could  understand  how  the  moon  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  growth  of  things;  neither 
has  it  been  satisfactorily  explained  to  me  how  it 
is  that  tides  are  effected  by  the  moon,  nor  why  it 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  383 

is  that  cats'  e^^es  are  effected  by  the  tides.  But, 
there  are  so  many  things  I  don't  know,  and  so  many 
unexpected  things  come  to  pass,  I've  about  made 
up  my  mind  to  believe  anything  I  hear.  So,  when 
a  man  tells  me  a  marvelous  story,  I  simply  say: 
^'My!  My!  is  that  so?" 

The  circus  was  to  have  been  here  on  the  fourth, 
but  did  not  show  because  of  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather. 

Yes,  it  was  a  very  rainy  morning  casting  a  damper 
over  all  circus  enthusiasts.  The  public  schools 
had  given  holiday  for  the  children  to  witness  the 
street  parade  and  see  the  animals.  The  negroes 
came  in  early  by  the  wagon  load,  and  stood  on  the 
streets  for  two  or  three  hours;  but  the  circus  didn't 
come.  So,  the  well-soaked  sons  and  daughters  of 
Africa  got  a  wetting  mthout  seeing  the  circus. 
It  came  in,  however,  the  next  day,  and  showed  twice. 

It  is  very  well  known,  in  circus  circles,  that 
Ealeigh  and  Wake  county  have  money  to  burn; 
but  rather  than  it  should  be,  the  circusses  are  sure 
to  come  and  get  it.  People  will  go  to  the  circus. 
A  few  years  ago  a  young  fellow  came  to  the  circus 
bringing  a  dollar,  which  he  spent  seeing  the  first 
exhibition  and  one  or  two  side  shows.  He  went 
to  Mills  H.  Brown,  Esq.,  then  a  merchant  where 
Mr.  Duglii  keeps,  and  mortgaged  his  shoes  for  fifty 
cents,  to  go  in  a  second  time;  and,  later  in  the 
evening,  he  swapped  hats  with  a  negro,  for  fifty 
cents  boot,  to  go  in  again  at  night. 

I  do  not  know  what  the  tax  on  a  circus  is;  but 
I'm  sure  it's  not  enough  to  pay  the  State  for  the  loss 
it  sustains.  A  few  hundred  dollars'  tax  will  not 
reimburse  us  for  the  thousands  that  the  circuses 
take  away  from  us.  But  what  does  a  fellow  care 
for  money  when  the  band  iDlays?  They've  been 
coming  ever  since  I  was  a  boy  and  they  are  about 
the  same  now  as  then. 


384  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Many  years  ago  there  liyecl  a  yery  prominent 
man,  out  on  Swift  Creek,  who  had  a  big  mouth,  and 
luade  a  noise  with  it  whereyer  he  went.  In  a  circus 
here,  once,  that  big  mouth  made  so  much  noise  as 
to  disturb  the  clown  and  the  whole  audience.  At 
length,  when  the  clown  could  stand  that  big  mouth 
no  longer  he  said  to  the  ring  master:  "I  want  to 
ask  you  a  question.'' 

"All  right,"  said  the  ring  master ;  "go  ahead  with 
your  question.'' 

"Well  then,"  said  the  clown,  "^yhat  do  you  hire 
me  for?" 

"To  play  the  fool,"  answered  the  ring  master. 

"You  are  a  fool  to  hire  me  to  play  fool,  when 
there's  a  fool  oyer  there  that's  playing  the  fool  for 
nothing." 

The  crowd  roared,  but  the  man  of  the  big  mouth 
quieted  down  so  effectually  he  could  barely  raise 
a  grin  during  the  remainder  of  the  show. 

Another  circus  incident  I  used  to  hear  was  this : 
A  clown  began  to  hold  his  nose  and  seemed  to  be 
troubled  with  some  bad  odor,  and  so  completely 
was  he  oyerpowered  by  what  he  pretended  he  was 
smelling,  that  he  seemed  to  forget  his  business. 
The  master  cracked  his  whip  at  him,  to  rouse  him 
up,  asking  at  the  same  time:  "What's  the  matter 
with  you,  sir?" 

"I  smell  something  I"  the  clown  answered. 

"Well,  sir;  what  is  it  you  smell?"  the  master 
asked. 

"A  Baptist  preacher." 

And  sure  enough  there  was  one  close  by,  and  the 
crowd  roared  with  laughter,  at  his  expense. 

I  wouldn't  be  surprised,  if  the  clowns  of  these 
days  haye  good  smellers,  if  Methodists  and  Baptists, 
as  well  as  some  of  all  denominations,  were  found 
in  the  circuses;  for,  it  is  a  yery  well  established 
fact  that,  church  members  haye  quit  denying  them- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  385 

selves  of  anTtliing,  but  do  as  they  please  and  ask 
the  Lord,  much  less  the  preachers,  no  favors,  so 
long  as  they  are  in  good  health,  and  cotton  sells 

a  1.  ten  cents  a  pound. 

*     *     * 

I  wrote  the  foregoing  part  of  this  letter  several 
days  ago;  since  Avhich  time  a  great  many  things 
have  happened.  The  circus  has  been  and  gone; 
some  of  our  neighbors  have  died ;  the  frost  has  nip- 
ped my  tomato  vines ;  the  elections  have  taken  ]3lace, 
and  the  results  are  known.  Of  course  everybody 
is  not  satisfied;  but  a  great  many  are  who  would 
have  been  dissatisfied  if  the  results  had  been  other- 
wise. Those  who  got  in  feel  happy,  those  left  out 
are  right  sure  it  would  have  been  better  had  they 
been  elected. 

I  expect  the  sun  will  continue  to  rise  in  the 
east  and  set  in  the  west ;  that  the  moon  will  change 
as  usual ;  the  stars  continue  to  twinkle  up  on  high ; 
and  water  continue  to  run  down  hill,  as  if  no  elec- 
tion had  taken  place. 

North  Carolina  will  have  another  good  governor. 
Wake  county  will  be  well  represented  in  the  Legis- 
lature, and  the  new  board  of  county  commissioners 
will  open  new  books  and  endeavor  to  make  their 
administration  of  county  affairs  acceptable  to  the 
people  whose  servants  they  are. 

So  far  as  the  presidential  election  is  concerned, 
the  South  was  not  in  it,  at  all.  It  is  rumored  that 
the  people  up  North  of  us  held  an  election  for  Presi- 
dent and  that  a  man  by  the  name  of  Eoosevelt  got 
in  by  a  small  majority,  beating  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Parker.  Since  the  days  of  Jefferson  Davis, 
we  Southern  people  have  had  no  President,  and 
we  don't  specially  need  one,  as  we've  got  sense 
enough,  honesty  enough  and  patriotism  enough 
to  take  care  of  ourselves  without  a  boss.  Now, 
as  I  see  it,  the  North  is  still  carrying  on  the  war 

25 


386  WHITAKER-S    REMI^ISCE^'CES, 

against  us;  but  the  South,  basking  in  the  sunlight 
of  prosperity,  is  serene,  and  keeps  on  picking  out 
cotton. 


CHAPTER  L. 


Gov.  W.  W.  Holden — Dedication  of  Edenton  Street 
M.  E.  Church— Some  of  Those  Who  Took  Part 
in  the  Ceremonies — Preacher  Who  Had  to  Pay 
His  Bill — What  is  Man? 

I  have  been  thinking  for  some  time  that  I  would 
be  unjust  to  one  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens 
of  ;North  Carolina,  did  I  fail,  in  these  reminiscen- 
ces, to  give  a  chapter  to  Governor  William  W. 
Holden,  who,  for  many  years,  was  not  only  in  the 
world's  eye,  but  took  a  prominent  and  a  most 
conspicuous  part  in  the  affairs  of  his  State,  as  the 
editor  of  the  Raleigh  Standard,  before  the  war; 
and,  after  the  war,  as  Grovernor,  during  the  days 
of  reconstruction;  in  which  positions  and  periods 
he  did  not  fail  to  make  the  impression  that  he  was 
a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability  and  force  of 
character.  He  made  some  mistakes  and  thereby 
drew  down  upon  his  head  the  wrath  of  a  people  who 
in  other  days  had  followed  his  lead ;  and  for  a  time, 
the  great  majority  of  the  Avhite  people  of  North 
Carolina  cordially  hated  him,  because,  as  they 
thought,  he  was  their  enemy.  But  we,  who  knew 
him  best — his  neighbors,  here  in  the  city,  who 
had  known  him  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury— could  not  believe  otherwise  than  that  the 
mistakes  he  made  were  the  outgroAvth  of  circum- 
stances, and  not  of  intent  aforethought.  While 
we  condemned  his  reconstruction  j)olicy,  especially 
the  suspension  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  extreme 
measures  to  which  he  resorted — arresting  and  im- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


387 


Ex-Gov.  W.  W.  HOLDEX. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  Century  Editor  of  The  Raleigh  Standard. 


388  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

prisoning  men  because  they  criticized  and  de- 
nounced those  extreme  measures — we  could  not  be- 
lieve that,  at  heart,  he  was  the  enemy  of  a  people 
for  whom  he  had  spent  so  many  years  in  hard  labor, 
trying,  with  pen  and  tongue,  to  advance  their  in- 
terest. 

Circumstances  have  much  to  do  with  the  lives 
of  men,  be  they  ever  so  careful,  or  ever  so  upright. 
I  was  an  admirer  of  Mr.  Holden  in  my  boyhood 
days.  I  used  to  go  to  the  Standard  office  to  spend 
many  of  my  leisure  hours  for  the  reason  that, 
though  boy,  as  I  was,  Mr.  Holden  would  take  time 
to  talk  with  me,  and  seemed  to  be  pleased  at  my 
visits;  always  discussing  such  topics  as,  he  thought, 
vrould  interest  and  instruct  a  school  boy.  Some- 
times he  would  say,  as  I  w^ould  be  leaving :  "Here's 
a  book  j)erhaps  you'd  like  to  read,"  and,  sure  en- 
ough, I'd  find  it  to  be  a  book  that  not  only  pleased 
but  instructed. 

When  I  grew  to  young  manhood  and  became  the 
editor  of  a  Democratic  paper,  Mr.  Holden  and  I 
drifted  apart.  But,  as  I  see  it  now,  I  do  not  blame 
him  so  much  for  any  hostility  he  manifested  to- 
ward me.  True,  he  said  some  uncomplimentary 
things  of  me,  and  I  said  some  harsh  things  of  him ; 
yet  really,  he  was  not  mad  with  me,  neither  was  I 
mad  with  him.  He  saw,  as  he  thought,  that  there 
were  men  in  the  Democratic  party  whom  he  had 
helped  to  make,  politically,  who  were  using  me  and 
my  paper  to  break  down  his  great  influence,  as  the 
editor  of  the  party  organ.  I  was  ignorant  of  any 
reason  that  should  have  prompted  such  a  desire 
or  action  on  the  part  of  those  who  seemed  to  be 
the  friends  of  my  paper;  but,  he  knew  more  than 
I  did.  So,  when  I  changed  the  "Live  Giraffe"  from 
a  humorous  publication  to  the  "Democratic  Press," 
he  foresaw,  or  thought  he  did,  that  there  was  danger 
ahead;  and,  knowing  the  strength  of  the  men  be- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  389 

hind  me,  he  knew  that  it  behooved  him,  not  only 
to  aim  a  shot  at  me,  but  to  shell  the  woods  also, 
which  he  did.  It  was  in  1859,  that  the  rupture  be- 
tween us  occurred;  and  for  eight  years  we  did  not 
speak.  He  regarded  me  as  a  factor  of  that  in- 
fluence which  broke  his  hold  upon  the  Democratic 
party;  and  felt  no  doubt,  that  I  had  done  him  a 
great  wrong.  But,  he  knew  that  I  was  not  respon- 
sible for  the  break  between  him  and  those  old  party 
friends  who  forsook  him;  therefore,  I  don't  think 
that,  (in  fact  he  told  me  so  in  the  last  years  of  his 
life),  he  ever  considered  me  an  enemy;  nor  did  he 
blame  me,  under  the  circumstances,  for  changing 
the  name  of  my  paper  and  entering  politics.  I  had 
been  his  friend,  and  had  thought  and  said,  that, 
his  party  had  not  dealt  justly  by  him ;  and  I  now 
think  that  he  had  reason,  on  his  side,  for  feeling 
that  his  party — (for  he  had  made  the  party  what 
it  was  in  the  State) — had  dealt  unfairly  with  him. 

I  do  not  know  what  the  result  would  have  been, 
but,  I  have  often  thought  that,  if,  instead  of  Judge 
Ellis,  Governor  Holden  had  received  the  nomina- 
tion at  Charlotte,  in  1857,  very  much  trouble  in 
many  ways,  would  have  been  avoided. 

Mr.  Holden  had  his  aspirations,  and  they  were 
v/ell  grounded,  for  he  had  the  ability  to  fill  the 
positions  to  which  he  aspired ;  and,  if  any  man  ever 
had  a  right  to  promotion,  on  account  of  party  ser- 
vices well  performed,  he  certainly  did.  But,  as 
already  intimated,  some  misunderstanding  between 
him  and  certain  imrty  leaders,  prior  to  1857,  (I 
have  never  known  what  it  was),  made  a  sore  that 
became  a  cancer  which  could  not  be  healed.  Hence, 
although  the  Standard  continued  to  march  under 
tbe  Democratic  banner,  there  was  discord  in  the 
ranks. 

When  the  convention  met  to  take  into  considera- 
tion Xorth  Carolina's  duty,  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  call 


390  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

for  seventy-five  thousand  volunteers  to  quell  the 
rebellion,  Mr.  Holden,  being  a  member  of  that  con- 
vention, voted  in  favor  of  secession;  and,  at  the 
time,  there  was,  seemingly,  a  forgetfulness  of  the 
rancors  of  the  past.  But,  the  Standard  had  lost 
the  State  printing,  and  the  State  Journal  being 
regarded  as  the  mouthpiece  of  Governor  Ellis,  and 
the  real  organ  of  the  Democratic  party,  Mr.  Holden 
became  a  dissenter,  or  rather,  a  critic;  and  while 
he  was  not  a  Union  man,  much  less  an  enemy  to 
the  Confederacy,  his  criticisms  of  the  party  mana- 
gers and  of  things  generally,  pertaining  to  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  were  frequently  and  often 
harshly  commented  upon;  so  that,  finally,  his  posi- 
tion toward  the  State  authorities,  as  well  as  to- 
ward the  Confederacy,  was  construed  to  be  hostility. 
That  construction  led  to  the  raid  upon  the  Stand- 
ard office  by  Benning's  (Georgia)  Brigade,  and 
the  plundering  and  destruction  of  the  State  Journal 
office  by  Mark  Williams  and  others,  who  were 
Governor  Holden's  friends,  as  a  retaliation.  Hav- 
ing commenced  to  drift  away  from  its  old-time 
moorings,  the  Standard,  once  the  most  pronounced 
of  all  the  State's  Rights  papers,  and  a  teacher  of 
the  doctrine  of  peaceable  secession,  for  cause, 
gradually  went  on  changing  until  when  the  war 
closed,  it  had  lost  most  of  its  old-time  friends ;  and 
Mr.  Holden,  in  the  meantime,  had  become  so  hostile 
to  those  old-time  party  leaders,  that,  when  he  found 
himself  in  a  position  to  be  revenged,  he,  unwisely, 
availed  himself  of  it.  This  Avas  the  mistake  of 
his  life,  and  led  to  the  most  disastrous  consequences 
both  to  the  people  and  to  himself.  If,  in  that  hour 
of  the  State's  sorest  trial,  he  could  have  risen  above 
the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  revenge,  and  used 
the  advantages,  then  afforded  him,  to  heal  old 
wounds  and  reunite  the  discordant  elements  of 
that  old  party,  of  which,  in  days  before,  he  had 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  391 

been  the  trusted  leader,  what  a  Moses  he  might 
have  been,  and  how  much  of  trouble  would  have 
been  averted.  But,  he  made  a  mistake,  a  terrible 
mistake,  and  he  realized  it  very  keenly  afterwards, 
and,  I  am  sure,  he  sorely  regretted  it.  Hence,  I 
remember  him  as  a  great  and  good  man  whom  cir- 
cumstances led,  step  by  step,  toward  a  condition 
v;herein  he,  being  tempted,  forgot  the  Pauline  in- 
junction: ^'Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome 
evil  with  good."  Ah !  how  man}^  there  are  who 
do  the  same  thing? 

The  last  years  of  Governor  Holden's  life  were 
spent  in  quietude,  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and, 
while  the  world  outside  may  have  been  still  remem- 
bering and  still  condemning  his  mistake;  we,  who 
saw  him  daily,  recognized  the  fact  that,  after 
having  passed  through  the  storm,  he  was  nearing 
the  shore  on  a  calm  sea.  He  eschewed  politics, 
but  was  not  inactive.  He  was  a  great  friend  of 
the  poor  and  interested  himself  in  their  behalf, 
both  in  a  temporal  and  spiritual  way,  and  they 
found  him  a  friend  indeed. 

No  one  thought  that  Aunt  Abby  House,  Avho 
not  only  hated  but  openly  abused  and  cursed  him, 
would  ever  be  at  peace  with  "Bill  Holden,''  as  she 
derisively  called  him.  But,  strange  as  it  may  sound 
in  the  ears  of  those  who  do  not  know  the  power  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  Aunt  Abby  learned  to  love 
him;  and,  when  she  died  she  carried  with  her  to 
heaven  the  recollection  of  the  many  prayers  he  had 
prayed  beside  her  sick  bed,  as  well  as  of  the  material 
comforts  his  thoughtfulness  and  kindheartedness 
had  brought  to  her  desolate  little  home,  in  the 
eastern  suburbs  of  Ealeigh. 

Governor  Holden  wrote  a  great  deal  in  his  last 
years,  mostly  on  religious  and  historic  themes; 
and,  because  of  his  great  knowledge  of  men  and 
events,  his  articles  were  of  much  interest  and  value. 


392  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

When  I  began  this  article  it  was  my  i3urpose  to 
give  a  historic  sketch  of  ^Olethodism  in  Raleigh/' 
written  bv  him,  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication 
of  the  present  Edenton  Street  church,  in  1887;  but 
I  find  I  will  not  have  the  space  to  give  that  letter 
this  week.  I  may  do  so  later  on.  But  I  will  give 
the  Dedicatory  Hymn,  sang  on  that  occasion,  which 
^^'as  written  by  Gorernor  Holden  expressly  for  that 
service.    Rev.  A.  W.  Mangum  announced  the  hymn : 

"Hol3^,  loving,  righteous  Father, 
Thou  didst  plant  this  living  vine; 
*    Prune  each  branch  in  love  and  mercy. 
Bless  it,   make  it  wholly  thine. 

^'Faitli  its  root  and  hope  its  branches, 
Nurtured  long  with  anxious  care — 
Now  the  touch  of  heaven  produces 
Fruit  abundant,  sweet  and  fair. 

"Now  the  corn  upon  the  mountain. 

Shakes  like  Lebanon  on  high; 

Now  the  life-bestowing  fountain 

Streams  upon  us  from  the  sky. 

^'Lord,  we  thank  thee  for  thy  i)resence. 

Lord,  we  bless  thee  for  thy  love; 
Make  us  all  that  thou  woukVst  have  us, 
All  thy  children  fully  prove. 

"Guard  this  house  from  sinful  error. 

Hearts  and  hands  and  tongues  employ; 
Dwell  Avithiu  it.  Lord,  forever. 
Fill  it  Avith  thy  songs  of  joy. 

"Wlien  the  harvest  scene  is  over — 
When  thou  comest  on  thy  throne; 
O,  receive  us  to  thy  glory, 

Own  and  crown  us  as  thine  own." 


INCIDENTS    AND   ANECDOTES. 


393 


It  has  only  been  nineteen  years  since  Eden  ton 
Street  Methodist  chnrch — the  present  bnilding, 
was  dedicated— therefore,  many  of  onr  people  re- 
member the  occasion,  the  singing  of  the  above 
hymn,  the  sermon  of  Bishop  Duncan,  the  dedica- 
tory services  and  many  other  incidents.  But,  to 
refresh  the  memory  of  such,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  give  the  voung  people  a  bit  of  history,  I  give  a 
few  extracts  from  the  Raleigh  Christian  Advocate 
of  May  25,  1887.     It  says: 

"Last  Sabbath  was  a  grand  day  for  Methodism 
in  Raleigh.  The  magnificent  new  Edenton  Street 
Church  was  dedicated  in  the  presence  and  to  the 
great  joy  of  a  vast  multitude  of  people. 

The  followino-  former  pastors  were  present :  Rev. 
John  E.  Edwards,  D.D. ;  Rev.  T.  S.  Campbell,  Rev. 
A,  W.  Mangum,  D.D. ;  Rev.  E.  A.  Yates,  D.D, ;  Rev. 
Robert  O.  Burton,  D.D.;  Rev.  W.  S.  Black,  D.D. ; 
and  Rev.  F.  L.  Reid.  In  addition  to  these  the 
following  ministers  of  our  conference  were  present : 
Rev.  X.  H.  D.  Wilson,  D.D.,  Presiding  Elder  of  the 
Raleioli  District;  Revs.  J.  S.  Nelson,  J.  H.  Page, 

D.  Culbreth,  J.  D.  Arnold,  A.  McCullen,  B.  B.  Cul- 
breth,  F.  M.  Shamburger,  M.  C.  Thomas,  B.  C. 
Allred,  Philip  Greening,  J.  B.  Martin,  A.  R.  Raven, 

E.  Rowland,  R.  B.  John,  J.  H.  Cordon  and  J.  E. 
Thomi^son. 

"The  dedicatory  sermon  was  preached  by  Bishop 
^Y.  W.  Duncan,  b.D.,  of  South  Carolina.  In  the 
formal  dedication  of  the  church,  the  building  was 
presented  for  the  trustees,  by  Judge  Walter  Clark, 
and  dedicated  by  Bishop  Duncan.  Rev.  E.  A. 
Yates,  D.D.,  announced  the  Doxology.  Benedic- 
tion by  Rev.  T.  S.  Campbell. 

"At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  Sunday  school 
mass  meeting  was  held,  at  which  short  addresses 
were  made  by  Bishop  Duncan,  Dr.  Yates  and  Dr. 


394  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Mangum,  interspersed  with  music  by  the  Sabbath 
school. 

''The  mass  meeting  was  a  decided  success. 
Bishop  Duncan  knows  how  to  talk  to  children, 
j'oung  people  and  parents,  and  his  address  was 
most  appropriate." 

Of  the  Bishop's  sermon  the  Advocate  said: 
''The  Bishop's  sermon  was  grand.  He  met  fully 
the  very  high  expectations  of  our  people.  It  was 
a  full  and  fine  exposition  of  Methodist  doctrine. 
It  vindicated  Methodism  against  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  some  so-called  evangelists  and  sanctifica- 
tionists,  and  drew  graphically  the  difference  be- 
tween what  Methodism  really  is  and  what  false 
teachers  represent  it  to  be.  It  was  just  the  sermon 
to  suit  the  times.  Bishop  Duncan  also  preached 
at  Person  Street  Church  at  five-thirty  in  the  after- 
noon ;  a  very  impressive  and  practical  sermon. 

"The  services  of  the  day  were  concluded  with  a 
sermon  at  night  by  the  Kev.  John  E.  Edwards,  D.D., 
of  the  Virginia  Conference;  a  former  pastor  of 
Edenton  Street  Church.  It  was  a  wonderful  ser- 
mon in  maly  respects,  and  the  large  crowd  was  per- 
fectly delighted." 

Kev.  N.  H.  D.  Wilson  was  the  Presiding  Elder 
and  Kev.  W.  C.  Norman  was  the  pastor  of  the 
Edenton  Street  Church.  But,  they  with  many 
others  who  were  there,  both  preachers  and  people, 
have  gone  to  that  bourne  whence  no  traveler  re- 
turns. Not  less  than  a  dozen  of  the  preachers  who 
19  years  ago  were  here,  and  witnessed  the  dedica- 
tion services,  are  gone.  Soon  the  others  will  go, 
and  soon  all  of  us  will  go.  Are  we  getting  ready? 
*     *     * 

Talking  about  getting  ready  to  die,  raises  the 
question,  how  long  will  it  take  us  to  get  ready  the 
A\'ay  Ave  are  preparing?  It  is  no  trouble  at  all  to 
slip  into  the  church ;  and  it's  not  much  of  a  cross  to 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES. 


395 


us  men  to  go  to  church  on  Sunday,  if  the  weather  is 
fair  •  and  it's  still  less  a  cross  to  the  dear  women, 
provided  their  hats  are  in  the  style  and  their  dresses 
are  up-to-date,  both  in  material  and  make  up;  but, 
a  very  serious  question  confronts  us  all :  ^^What 
ffood  does  our  church  going  do  us,  while  we  are 
thinking  so  little  of  religion  and  are  doing  next 
tc  nothing  to  extend  the  Kedeemer's  Kingdom? 

I  can't  help  thinking  of  a  story  told  by  Dr.  Cuy- 
ler  A  Toung  lady  forgetful  of  her  solemn  coven- 
ant with  Christ,  and,  disregarding  the  fact  that 
the  church,  of  which  she  was  a  member,  forbade 
dancing,  card  playing  and  other  worldly  amuse- 
ments, and  who  had  spent  many  months  m  a  round 
of  frivolities,  was  asked  one  Sabbath  morning  by 
one  of  her  gav  companions  to  accompany  him  to  a 
certain  place."^  She  declined  on  the  ground  that  it 
was  the  communion  Sabbath  in  her  church. 

"Are    you    a    communicant?"    was    the    cutting 

reT)lv 

The  arrow  went  to  her  heart.  She  felt  that  she 
had  denied  the  Lord  and  put  Him  to  an  open  shame. 
And,  then,  to  be  thus  rebuked  by  one  who  made  no 
profession  of  religion. 

Dr  Munhall  says:  "Some  Christians  are  like 
PTOund  hogs— thev  only  come  out  of  their  holes 
in  the  warm  weather  of  revivals."  If  we  could 
onlv  close  up  the  holes  and  keep  them  out,  what  a 
blessing  it  would  be;  but,  ground  hog  like,  when 
thev  see  their  shadows— the  frightful  shadows 
made  by  their  Christian  deformities— they  hasten 
back  to  their  hiding  places.  .         ^       i        i. 

It  is  always  a  terrible  condemnation  of  a  churcn 
member,  that  no  one  should  suspect  him  of  being 
one.  It  is  equally  as  great  a  condemnation  when 
one  professes  to  be  a  Christian,  to  have  the  world 
say  of  him,  "he  may  be  a  professor,  but  from  the 
wav  he  acts  he  is  not  a  possessor." 


396  ^YHITAKER'S   REMINISCENCES, 

In  the  old  time  days  when  preachers  used  to  be 
v.elcome  guests  at  all  the  inns,  a  certain  i)reacher 
rode  up  to  a  country  tavern  and  asked  for  lodging, 
announcing,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  a  minister 
of  the  gospel.  The  landlord  was  but  too  glad  to 
entertain  him,  because  of  his  holy  calling.  He 
soon  was  shown  the  best  room,  and  the  landlord 
attended  to  all  his  wants,  gave  him  the  best  supper 
he  could  i)roYide,  lighted  him  to  his  room  at  bed- 
time and  saw  him  safely  and  comfortably  in  bed; 
in  the  morning  he  carried  in  fresh  water  and  clean 
towels,  and  personalh^  attended  him  to  the  break- 
fast table. 

Soon  the  preacher  was  about  leaving  with  his 
thanks,  but  to  his  astonishment  the  landlord  con- 
fronted him  with  a  bill. 

"Why,  how  is  this?"  asked  the  preacher.  "I 
thought  it  was  not  customary  to  charge  ministers 
for  lodging  and  refreshments.'' 

"How  do  I  know  that  you  are  a  preacher?"  re- 
turned the  landlord.  "You  ate  your  supper  and 
breakfast  without  savins:  orace,  vou  went  to  bed 
without  saying  your  prayers,  and,  since  you  came, 
;^'ou  have  not  said  a  word  about  religion,  nor  given 
us  any  sign  that  you  had  any.  You  came  like  a 
sinner,  you've  acted  like  a  sinner,  and  you  must 
l^ay  like  a  sinner." 

Yes,  I  like  a  hustler,  a  hustler  who  hustles  all  the 
time ;  but  I  maintain  that  the  hustling  mostly  need- 
ed just  now,  is  that  kind  that  will  bring  the  world 
back  to  the  belief  that  religion  is  something  more 
than  a  theory — something  better  than  meat  and 
drink,  card  playing  and  dancing,  serving  the  world 
six  days  and  God  only  one. 

I'm  not  going  to  wind  up  this  letter  with  a  ser- 
mon, but,  I  do  want  to  ask  a  question — an  old  ques- 
tion— one  asked  long  ago,  but  never  answered,  to- 
wit:     "What  is  man?"' 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  397 

I'll  let  the  reader  wrestle  with  that  question 
while  I  go  on  to  tell  an  anecdote  that  Avill,  I  hope, 
bring  out  an  idea. 

A  minister  was  once  traveling  in  a  mining  country 
and  coming  to  a  mine  he  saw  a  bald-headed  Irish- 
man, with  no  hat  to  shield  his  pate  from  the  rays 
of  a  scorching  sun,  turning  a  windless  w^hich  hauled 
up  ore  out  of  the  shaft.  The  sun  was  pouring  his 
hottest  rays  down  on  his  unprotected  head. 

^'Don't  you  know  that  the  sun  will  injure  your 
brain  if  you  expose  it  in  that  manner?''  said  the 
minister. 

The  Irishman  wiped  the  sweat  from  his  forehead 
and  looking  at  the  preacher  said : 

^'Do  you  think  I'd  be  doing  this,  all  the  day,  if  I 
had  any  brains?"  and  he  went  on  turning  the  crank. 

I'll  let  my  worldly  minded  Christian  readers, 
as  well  as  the  bald-headed,  hatless  sinners,  who 
spend  most  of  their  time  turning  Satan's  crank, 
and  toiling  in  Satan's  interest,  while  the  hot  rays 
of  God's  wrath  are  almost  ready  to  scorch  them, 
make  the  application,  as  they  work  out  the  answ^er 
to  the  question:     *^What  is  man?" 


whitaker's  reminiscences, 


CHAPTER  LI. 

General  Joseph  Lane's  Visit  to  Raleigh — Samuel 
WhitakeVj  Esq.,   and  Jim  Miller. 

In  1860,  as  I  have  already  written,  General  Joseph 
Lane,  Democratic  nominee  for  Vice-President  on 
the  ticket  with  Hon.  John  C.  Breckenridge  for 
President,  paid  a  visit  to  Raleigh,  and  was  quite 
a  lion  among  his  many  kindred  and  party  friends. 
Correspondents  of  the  big  Northern  dailies  followed 
him,  and  took  notes  of  all  that  was  said  and  done 
by  him  and  about  him,  and  to  him,  while  he  so- 
journed with  us.  The  big  occasion  was  a  banquet 
at  Mr.  Henry  Mordecai's,  just  north  of  the  city,  of 
which  a  vast  crowd  of  kinsfolk,  friends  and  Demo- 
crats partook.  General  Lane  was  a  relative  of 
the  Mordecais ;  I  mean  of  Messrs.  Henry  and  Jacob 
Mordecai;  and  it  was  their  pleasure  to  give  their 
distinguished  kinsman  and  political  friend  the  big- 
gest, old-fashioned  banquet  that  could  be  gotten 
up,  and  they  did  it.  "Jake"  Mordecai,  as  he  was 
familiarly  called,  was  an  old  batchelor,  living  at 
that  time  about  four  miles  north  of  Raleigh,  and 
had  little  else  to  do  but  to  enjoy  himself,  and  so 
the  banqueting  of  Greneral  Lane  was  exactly  in  his 
line,  and  he  said  he  and  Henry  were  going  to  open 
the  big  blade  and  cut  big  slices ;  and  they  did.  As 
I  never  expected  to  write  up  the  matter,  I  took  no 
notes,  and  can  not,  therefore,  give  the  reader  any 
particulars,  nor  say  more  than  that  it  was  a  very 
swell  affair,  yet,  as  informal  as  a  country  dinner. 
General  Lane  was,  of  course,  the  toast  of  the  occa- 
sion, and  being  among  his  kindred  he  acted  and  no 
doubt  felt,  very  much  like  a  member  of  the  family, 
long  time  gone  from  home,  but  at  last  returned  to 
find  everybody  glad  to  see  him. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  399 

He  distiiiguislied  himself  iu  the  march  from  Vera 
Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico  in  1848,  and  received 
a  wound  which  lamed  one  arm  so  that  he  had  but 
little  use  of  it.  He  was  a  man  of  most  popular  man- 
ners, and  could  not  have  been  better  liked  here  had 
he  been  to  the  manor  born. 

Col.  Edward  Cantwell,  a  lawyer  of  distinction, 
living  in  this  city  at  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing, 
served  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  knowing  General 
Lane  in  the  army  and  hearing  often  of  his  gallantry 
on  the  battle  field,  in  one  or  more  engagements,  was 
well  prepared  to  make  one  of  the  best  speeches,  at 
the  Mordecai  dinner.  ''Jake"  Mordecai  made  the 
speech,  however,  af  the  day.  I  won't  undertake 
to  report  it,  for  that  would  be  impossible.  No  man 
could  report  him.  He  was  all  animation ;  his  words 
flew  like  sky-rockets,  and  went  in  so  many  directions 
it  was  impossible  to  keep  up  with  them,  or  to  guess 
which  way  they  were  going  the  next  time.  On  that 
occasion  he  felt  unusually  patriotic  and  he  spread 
himself,  and  the  applause  he  received,  kept  him 
going  until  men's  sides  fairly  ached  from  laughing. 
I  heard  him  make  a  speech  in  the  Legislature  on  one 
occasion  that  served  to  keep  the  House  in  good 
humor  for  the  remainder  of  the  session.  I  had  no 
special  acquaintance  with  him,  though  knew  him 
well  by  sight,  seeing  him  almost  daily  on  the 
streets ;  but  knew  him  better,  perhaps,  by  hearing 
others  speaking  of  him  and  the  humorous,  and  often 
very  Avitty  remarks  he  made  in  their  presence. 

Samuel  Whitaker,  Esq.,  who  in  these  days  would 
be  called  the  Hon.  Samuel  Whitaker,  served  in  the 
Legislature,  with  the  exception  of  three  years,  from 
1822  to  1810,  being  elected  nine  times  to  the  House 
of  Commons  and  five  times  to  the  Senate.  He  was 
the  writer's  uncle,  and  the  grandfather  of  Hon.  F. 
A.  Whitaker,  one  of  the  members  of  the  House  of 


400  ^YHITAKE^v^S    REMINISCENCES, 

Eepresentatives   from   Wake   County   in   the   last 
Legislature. 

''Uncle  Sam/'  as  he  was  familiarly  called  by  the 
people,  as  well  as  by  his  nephe^ys,  was  a  man  of 
small  stature,  but  robust  as  a  politician  and  a  busi- 
ness man.  He  was  all  the  time  moying.  It  was 
said  of  him  that  when  he  shayed  he  walked  his  long 
piazza  and  gaye  orders  to  this  one  and  to  that  one, 
without  breaking  a  lick  of  the  razor.  And  when 
he  would  mount  his  horse  and  start  to  Kaleigh, 
though  the  horse  trotted,  he  would  go  in  a  gallop  by 
springing  up  and  down  in  the  stirrups.  The  conse- 
quence w^as  his  pants  would  be  aboye  his  knees  by 
the  time  he  came  galloping  into  the  city  on  his  trot- 
ting horse.  He  was  so  in  the  habit  of  riding  horse 
back  that  he  always  kept  on  his  spurs.  When  he 
came  to  the  city  he  would  keep  them  on,  and  eyen 
during  a  day's  sitting  of  the  Legislature  he  would 
not  take  them  off. 

It  was  in  1830,  so  the  story  was  told  me,  that 
Uncle  Sam,  then  a  Representatiye,  had  a  free  negro 
liying  on  his  plantation  Ayho  Ayas  a  great  admirer  of 
him,  and  would  do  anything  Uncle  Sam  would  ask 
of  him.  He  had  yoted  for  him  eyery  time  he  had 
been  a  candidate,  and  it  Ayas  his  delight  to  come  to 
the  city  ^^just  to  look  at  Sam  sitting  in  the  big 
house,"  as  the  Capitol  was  called.  One  day  Uncle 
Sam's  horse  broke  loose  from  the  rack  and  went 
home,  and  during  the  eyening  a  heayy  rain  fell 
which  filled  Kocky  Branch,  just  south  of  the  city, 
so  as  to  be,  for  awhile,  impassible  to  pedestrians. 
But  Uncle  Sam  and  the  free  negro  (his  name  was 
Jim  Miller),  were  determined  to  cross,  if  possible. 
Jim  said  he  didn't  mind  wading,  himself,  but  he 
would  not  hear  to  "Sam's"  wading,  because  he  was 
a  Legislator  and  had  on  his  fine  clothes.  At  length 
he  said :  ''Sam,  if  you'll  get  on  my  back  I'll  carry 
you  oyer."     Jim  was  a  umn  of  big  frame  and  heayy 


I^'CIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  401 

Aveight,  and  Uncle  Sam  felt  very  sure  that  he  could 
make  the  trip;  for,  although  the  stream  was  wide 
it  Avas  not  more  than  two  or  three  feet  deep,  at  any 
place.  So  up  Uncle  Sam  mounted,  and  into  the 
stream  went  Jim.  As  they  reached  the  deepest 
place  Avliere  the  current  was  swift,  Uncle  Sam,  for- 
getting he  was  riding  Jim  Miller,  instead  of  his 
horse,  and  being  a  little  excited  on  account  of  the 
SAviftness  of  the  current,  popped  his  spurs  into  him. 
Jim  stopped  while  he  said:  ''Sam,  stop  that;  if 
you  spur  me  again  I'll  pitch  you  OA^er  my  head  into 
the  water."  Uncle  Sam  promised  to  keep  his  feet 
still  and  so  Jim  went  forward,  but  presently,  step- 
ping into  a  hole  Avhere  the  water  Avas  unexpectedly 
deep,  because  of  a  AA^ashout,  Uncle  Sam  forgot  him- 
self and  spurred  Jim  again;  and,  true  to  his  AA^ord, 
Jim  gaAe  him  a  AA^hirl  OA^er  his  head  and  into  the 
water  he  aa  ent,  receiAdng  a  ducking  that  wet  him 
all  over. 

It  was  said  that  that  ducking  broke  Uncle  Sam 
from  wearing  his  spurs,  except  when  riding.  After 
that  he  Avould  take  them  off  Avhen  dismounting  and 
buckle  them  to  his  saddle. 

In  1842,  James  B.  Shepard  was  the  nominee  for 
Senator  from  Wake,  and  Uncle  Sam  ran  against  him 
as  an  independent  candidate,  while  Nat.  Warren 
ran  as  the  Whig  candidate.  Shepard  Avas  efected, 
and  Uncle  Sam's  political  career  closed.  During 
the  campaign,  Avhen  the  candidates  spoke  at  Bank's, 
Shepard  made  some  remarks  that  reflected  upon 
Uncle  Sam,  and  I  remember  seeing  Barnes  Whita- 
ker,  his  son,  rush  up  and  strike  Shepard  Avith  a 
stick,  and  Shepard  threAV  a  book  at  him. 

There  was  quite  an  excitement  in  the  croAvd,  for 

a  fcAV  moments,  but  it  soon  subsided  and  peace 

reigned.     I  might  say  a  great  many  things  about 

''Uncle  Sam''  that  Avould  interest  the  old  people, 

26 


402  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

perhaps,  but  as  the  majority  of  my  readers  don't 
even  know  me,  I  guess  they  will  excuse  me  from 
writing  further  of  my  Uncle  Sam,  of  whom  they 
never  heard. 

I  was  looking  over  a  book  of  pamphlets  the  other 
day  and  was  greatly  interested,  for,  as  I  turned  over 
the  pages  and  read  the  fly  leaves,  I  found  that  I  Avas 
in  old  time  company.  First,  my  eyes  lighted  upon 
the  '^Wake  County  Working  Men's  Address," 
adopted  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  court-house  Octo- 
ber 10,  1859.  The  address  was  prepared  by  a 
committee  consisting  of  Quentin  Busbee,  B.  F. 
Benton,  H.  Gorman,  D.  A.  Wicker,  F.  I.  Wilson, 
J.  N.  Bunting,  W.  B.  Reid,  T.  R.  Fentress,  W.  J. 
Lougee  and  H.  Raby.  That  address  was  a  plea  for 
and  an  argument  in  favor  of  ad  valorem  taxation, 
a  measure  which  was  adopted  by  the  Whig  Conven- 
tion and  repudiated  by  the  Democratic  Convention 
in  1860.  I  alluded  to  this  address  in  a  former  let- 
ter. I  turn  over  a  few  pages  and  there  I  find  the 
speech  of  Governor  Ellis  before  the  Democratic 
Convention  in  this  city,  in  1860,  when  accepting 
the  nomination  for  the  second  term,  which  the 
convention  had  just  made.  He  realized  all  that 
he  said  in  that  speech  of  acceptance:  "I  accept, 
gentlemen,  your  nomination,  and  with  it  the  re- 
sponsibilities and  burdens  it  imposes,  and  I  shall 
undertake  the  duties  of  this  position  with  a  deep 
and  solemn  conviction  that  they  were  never  more 
vitally  responsible  than  in  the  present  juncture  of 
jDublic  affairs.'' 

The  burdens  were  too  great  for  his  physical  man- 
hood, and  he  sank  under  their  weight;  but,  before 
death  came  to  release  him,  he  had  done  much  to  re- 
deem the  promise  he  had  made,  and  Avould  liave 
more  than  fulfilled  every  obligation  and  performed 
every  duty  had  he  been  permitted  to  live  cnit  his 


INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  403 

term.  Governor  Ellis  was  every  inch  a  gentleman 
and  a  true  man. 

A  little  further  on  I  find  Hon.  John  Kerr,  an  old 
line  Whig,  writing  to  E.  J.  Hale  &  Son,  of  the  Fay- 
ette\ille  Observer,  giving  his  reasons  why  he  can  not 
afford  to  affiliate  with  the  Know  Nothings.  He 
says:  ^'I  am  aware  that  the  Whig  party  is  dis- 
banded,''  etc.  *  *  *  ^'But  secret  political,  oath 
bound  associations  are  always  dangerous  to  liberty, 
and  can  never  be  justified  in  a  free  country."  Judge 
Kerr  was  right.  Know  Nothingism  had  a  short 
life.  Henry  A.  Wise  killed  it  in  Virginia  when 
he  and  Flournoy  ran  for  Governor  in  1855. 

A  few  pages  further  along  I  find  Ed.  Graham 
Haywood,  one  of  the  brightest  young  men  Ealeigh 
e\er  raised,  making  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons of  North  Carolina  on  his  own  eligibility  to  a 
seat  in  that  body.  The  Committee  on  Privileges 
and  Elections  reported  to  the  House  "that  E.  G. 
Haywood,  a  sitting  member,  was  at  the  time  of  his 
election  (''and  is  now,''  the  report  said)  clerk  and 
master  of  the  court  of  Equity  for  Wake  County," 
and  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  de- 
claring his  seat  vacant.  Mr.  Haywood  ably  de- 
fended his  position  in  a  speech,  w^hich  took  him  two 
days  to  deliver ;  but  the  resolution  was  adopted  and 
his  seat  declared  vacant. 

A  few  pages  further  on  I  see  Frank  I.  Wilson, 
associate  editor  of  the  Raleigh  "Standard,"  mak- 
ing a  literary  address  before  Horner's  School  in 
Oxford,  N.  C,  on  "The  Supremacy  of  the  Present 
Age,"  and  he  is  giving  the  boys  a  fine  address.  Wish 
I  could  give  it  to  the  readers — but  it  is  too  long  at 
this  stage  of  my  article. 

Then,  here  is  the  Hon.  D.  M.  Barringer,  of 
Raleigh,  making  an  address  before  the  Mecklenburg 
Agricultural  Society,  and  he  is  saying:  "I  am 
glad  to  be  with  you  here  to-day,"  and  in  the  thirty- 


404 

two  pages  that  followed  he  told  his  "large  and  in- 
telligent audience  why  he  was  glad." 

And  next  my  eyes  fall  upon  an  address  delivered 
before  The  State  Educational  Association  of  North 
Carolina,  at  Warrenton,  June  1st,  1857,  by  William 
W.  Holden,  Esq.,  and  published  by  request  of  the 
association.  This  address  contains  more  informa- 
tion, I  venture  to  say,  than  any  other  man  could 
have  crowded  into  a  thirty-page  speech. 

A  little  further  on  I  hear  my  old  friend  Moses 
A.  Bledsoe,  Esq.,  thundering  in  the  Senate  of  1859, 
on  the  subject  of  ad  valorem.  If  he  were  dead  I 
would  compliment  his  speech,  but  being  yet  alive 
and  being,  like  myself,  a  modest  man,  I  am  afraid 
he  might  construe  the  good  things  I  could  truth- 
fully say  of  his  fine  argument  into  flattery,  so  I 
guess  I  had  better  not  say  more. 

I  see  right  ahead  of  me.  Col.  E.  G.  Haywood, 
chairman  of  the  Democratic  Executive  Committee  of 
North  Carolina,  holding  in  his  hand  an  address, 
to  the  people  of  the  State,  which  it  is  supposed  will 
not  only  answer  every  argument  which  Mr.  Bled- 
soe set  forth  in  his  Senatorial  speech,  but  knock 
old  ad  valorem  himself,  into  a  cocked  hat. 

Here  is  a  sermon  preached  at  Chapel  Hill,  June 
4th,  1858,  by  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.D.,  of  Columbia, 
S.  C.  Next  I  find  a  discourse  prepared  to  be  de- 
livered at  Wake  Forest  in  1852,  by  R.  W.  Cushman, 
of  Washington  City. 

Then  comes  an  address  by  Edward  Cant  well,  at 
Holly  Springs,  Wake  County,  to  the  students  of 
the  Holly  Springs  Academy,  June  1859. 

How  real  these  faded  pamphlets  make  the  old 
times  seem! 

I  knew  all  the  men  who  signed  the  Working  ^Men's 
Address ;  I  knew  Governor  Ellis,  Mr.  Rayner,  Judge 
Kerr,  Col.  Haywood,  Frank  I.  Wilson,  Mr.  Bar- 
ringer,   Governor   Holden,   Mr.    Bledsoe,    (still    in 


INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  405 

the  flesh ) ,  and  Edward  Cant  well.  With  one  excep- 
tion all  are  gone,  and  that  exception,  as  well  as 
the  writer,  will  soon  follow.  How  still  the  once 
busy,  bustling,  noisy  past !  The  grave  at  last  lulls 
the  restless  world  into  silence. 


CHAPTER  LII. 


Three  Bishops  Who  Attended  the  Centennial  of 
Methodism  in  Raleigh,  in  1876 — Bishop  Mar- 
vin's Great  Bermon  on  the  Seed  Corn— -Judge 
Foiole's  Great  Speech  that  made  Men  Cry  and 
Shout — The  Old  Sister  tvho  said  the  Lord 
Would  Never  Hear  the  Last  of  her  Praising. 

I  have  been  thinking  for  some  time  that  I  would 
like  for  all  the  ^^Marvins"  to  write  to  me.  ^'Mar- 
vin" was  a  name  unknown  to  mothers  until  Bishop 
Marvin,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
Avent  through  this  Southland  preaching  and  sing- 
ing and  praying,  nearly  thirty  years  ago.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  magnetic  preachers,  as  well  as  one 
of  the  most  Godly  men  of  the  last  half  cen- 
tury, which  accounts  for  the  fact  that  so  many 
mothers  named  their  boys  for  him.  Bishops  Mc- 
Tyeire  and  Doggett  were  his  contemporaries  in  the 
episcopacy,  and  they  were  really  great  men — in 
some  respects,  perhaps,  greater  than  Marvin — but 
somehow  or  other,  the  mothers  did  not  call  their 
boys  McTyeire  or  Doggett.  The  "Marvins"  are  as 
numerous  as  the  John  Wesleys  used  to  be,  and  quite 
as  well  known,  in  some  sections,  as  the  George 
Washingtons  ever  were.  There  was  quite  a  crop 
of  Bascoms  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  and  not  a  few 
Earlys,  but  no  bishop,  nor  statesman,  has  had 
such  a  following  as  Bishop  Marvin.  Grover  Cleve- 
land had  quite  a  run  for  a  while,  but  it  was  short 


406  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

lived.  The  ^Olarvins"  however,  are  still  holding 
their  own,  in  Methodist  circles,  and  are  likely  to 
grow  with  the  growth  of  Methodism. 

Is  it  not  strange  how  much  greater  one  man's 
influence  is  than  another's?  Two  men  may  be 
equally  gifted,  have  almost  the  same  talents;  yet 
one  will  attract  while  the  other  seems  to  have  no 
magnetism. 

Of  the  three  bishops  who  attended  the  centen- 
nial of  Methodism,  here  in  Ealeigh  in  1876,  Bishop 
Marvin  was  the  one  who  made  a  lasting  impression 
on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people. 

McTyeire  was  a  lawyer  like  preacher,  who  made 
an  argument  that  could  but  convince  the  most 
skeptical.  Doggett  was  rhetorical,  classical,  and 
brilliant,  and,  to  a  cultured  audience,  he  was  charm- 
ing. But  Marvin  was  full  of  soul.  He  knew  how 
to  find  the  door  to  the  inner  man,  and  when  it  was 
found  he  walked  right  in  and  claimed  kin  with  the 
soul,  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

I  heard  him  preach  the  dedication  sermon  of  the 
old  Person  street,  now  Central  church,  a  sermon  of 
two  hours  length;  and,  from  the  first  to  the  last 
sentence,  men  and  women  hung  upon  his  words, 
as  if  they  had  never  heard  a  gospel  sermon  before. 

Judge  Fowle,  who  stood  outside  and  heard  him 
through  the  window,  said  he  could  have  stood  two 
hours  longer  without  becoming  wearied.  His  text 
was  "Except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground 
and  die,  it  abideth  alone." 

He  described  the  condition  of  the  world  after 
the  fall  of  man,  and  likened  it  to  a  land  in  which 
early  frost  had  destroyed  the  seed  corn,  but,  after 
diligent  search  a  grain  was  found,  from  which  one 
grain  came  bread  enough  to  feed  the  millions. 

Sin  had  blasted  the  world,  destroying  all  spirit- 
ual life.     Christ  was  the  corn  of  wheat  that  was  to 


INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  407 

fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  to  restore  that 
si)iritual  life. 

It  were  vain  for  me  to  undertake  to  give  the  reader 
even  an  outline  of  his  sermon,  from  memory;  but 
I  remember  enough  to  know  and  be  able  to  say,  it 
was  the  finest,  the  most  uplifting,  presentation  of 
the  plan  of  salvation  to  which  I  had  ever  listened. 
Old  Father  Henry  Porter,  one  of  the  saints  of  that 
day,  who  has  since  been  translated,  came  out  of  the 
church,  after  the  sermon,  almost  shouting  and 
saying :  "Thank  God  for  the  seed  corn  I  Thank 
God  for  the  seed  corn!" 

Yes,  I'd  like  to  hear  from  all  the  "Marvins,"  for 
I  must  conclude,  inasmuch  as  they  are  named  for 
so  great  and  good  a  man,  they  must  be  first-class 
folks  and  good  Methodists  withal.  A  good  Metho- 
dist, however,  may  not  always  mean  a  first-class 
saint,  from  the  Saviour's  standpoint,  no  more  than 
a  good  Baptist  or  a  good  Pharisee;  but,  it  must  be 
true  that  men  who  admire  and  try  to  imitate  the 
life  and  character  of  John  Wesley,  are  trying  to 
do  better,  and  be  better  than  the  ordinary  herd  of 
mankind. 

I  said  that  Bishop  Marvin  preached  two  hours. 
A  long  time  for  an  audience  to  sit  and  listen.  Kev. 
Peter  Doub  generally  preached  from  an  hour  and 
a  half  to  two  hours,  and  I  don't  remember  that  any 
of  his  hearers  complained.  The  old  time  people 
depended  more  on  the  pulpit  for  gospel  instruc- 
tion than  they  do  now.  The  preacher  of  this  day 
is  only  a  spoke  in  the  wheel.  He  used  to  be  the 
whole  wheel,  hub  and  all.  His  message  used  to 
be  heard  gladly  and  cherished  as  if  heaven  sent. 

In  these  days  of  books,  periodicals,  magazines, 
Sunday  newspapers,  Ep worth  Leagues,  Christian 
Endeavors,  Sunday  Schools,  Missionary  Societies, 
and  dozens  of  charitable  and  fraternal  associations, 
the  people  have,  or  think  they  have,  very  little  need 


408 

of  preachers ;  and  not  more  than  half  of  them  go  to 
church  regularly;  many  never  go  at  all.  Their 
papers  suit  them  better  than  the  preachers;  because 
they  can  read  them  without  shaving  and  putting 
on  Sunday  clothes;  and  if  they  nod  it  makes  no 
difference,  even  should  they  snore. 

Scores  of  men  are  depending  for  salvation  upon 
fraternal  associations,  which  teach,  as  all  of  them 
do,  good  morals.  I  know  men  belonging  to  the 
Masons,  (and  Masonry  I  suppose,  stands  at  the 
head  of  all  the  fraternal  institutions),  who  are 
expecting  to  be  saved  because  they  belong  to  a 
lodge.  I  dare  not  say  they  will  not  be;  but,  Jesus 
made  it  very  clear  to  Xicodemus,  that  a  man  must  be 
born  again.  And  Paul  in  the  tenth  chapter  of 
Romans  says:  ^'Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How  shall  they 
call  on  him — in  whom  they  have  not  believed?  and 
and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they 
have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without 
a  preacher?" 

These  other  agencies  may  do  good,  but  the 
preacher  ever  has  been,  and  must  ever  be  regarded 
as  the  special  messenger,  the  ambassador  for 
Christ,  and  nothing  else  I  am  free  to  say  is  com- 
parable to  a  good  gospel  sermon  delivered  by  one 
(man  or  woman)  who  is  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  objection  made  to  Methodism,  when  I  Avas 
a  boy  was,  that  it  Avas  too  emotional — made  men 
and  women  cry  and  shout  and  do  very  improper 
things,  shocking  to  the  refined  and  sedate.  I  have 
never  yet  believed  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to 
suffer  pain,  however  stoical  he  may  be,  without 
showing  in  some  way,  that  he  was  suffering.  Nor 
can  a  man  l)e  amused,  niucli  less  thrilled  with  mer- 
riment, Avithout  betraying  his  feelings.  Joy,  grief, 
happiness  and  sorrow  will  find  ways  to  express 
themseh'es,  on  the  face,  in  the  eye,   through  the 


INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  409 

tongue  or  in  some  other  way.  He  is  a  dead  man, 
indeed,  who  is  devoid  of  emotion.  And,  I  can  not 
but  conclude,  that  a  great  many  Christians,  who 
never  exhibit  any  feeling  are  reall}^  dead.  If  you 
tell  of  a  storm,  they  are  horrified;  if  you  relate 
an  account  of  a  terrible  railroad  Avreck,  or  of  the 
burning  of  a  ship  at  sea,  the}^  are  horrified  at  that ; 
if  you  tell  hoAv  a  child  was  rescued  from  a  burning 
building  by  some  daring  hero,  who,  amid  the  shouts 
of  a  multitude,  risks  his  own  life  that  he  may  lay 
that  child  unscorched  into  its  mother's  arms,  these 
dead  Christians  will  shout  over  that  while  tears 
of  sympathy  and  real  delight  will  stream  from  their 
eyes.  What's  the  matter!  The  emotional  chord 
has  been  touched,  and  they  can  no  more  keep  from 
shouting  and  crying  than  the  harp  can  help  send- 
ing forth  its  waves  of  melody  when  the  skilled  hand 
has  swept  its  strings. 

I  saw  a  strange  sight  at  a  political  meeting 
twenty  odd  years  ago.  Judge  Fowle  was  making 
a  speech  in  Winston.  The  court-house  was  crowded 
with  men — men  of  iron  nerves  and  strong  wills — 
unexcitable  men,  who  only  moved  when  their  reas- 
ons had  been  convinced  by  cold,  dry,  hard  argu- 
ment. For  a  while  not  more  than  half  the  people 
in  the  room  appeared  to  be  much  interested;  now 
and  then  there  would  be  some  stamping  of  feet  and 
clapping  of  hands;  but,  there  were  no  outbursts  of 
applause.  At  length  the  Judge  began  to  speak  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  white  people  of  the  eastern 
counties;  telling  of  the  humiliation  of  some  poor 
whites  in  Jones  County,  who  had  been  hired  out  to 
negroes;  and  appealing  to  the  brave,  honest,  pat- 
riotic sons  of  the  west  to  come  down  and  break  the 
yoke  of  tyranny,  and  to  strike  down  the  infamous 
tyrants,  who  would  degTade  and  humiliate  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race.  Every  man  in  the  house  was 
listening  then,  and  every  face  showed  that  chords 


410  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

had  been  touched  Avhich  sent  thrills  to  hearts  un- 
used to  emotion  for  I  noticed  that  some  were  crying. 

The  Judge  told  a  story  of  the  Crimean  war,  in 
which  he  pictured  an  English  mother  (an  officer's 
wife,  with  a  child  in  her  arms),  standing  on  the 
crest  of  the  fortress  looking  for  the  coming  of  En- 
glish ships.  The  mortalities  of  a  long-siege  had 
reduced  the  strength  of  the  garrison,  while  both 
ammunition  and  provisions  were  running  alarm- 
ingly short.  Day  after  day,  week  after  week  pas- 
sed, and  no  English  ships  hove  in  view.  It  was 
but  a  matter  of  time  when  the  garrison  must  either 
surrender  or  perish.  Every  day  that  mother  crept, 
Avith  her  child  in  her  arms,  to  the  parapet,  and 
with  face  seaward  and  eyes  heavenward,  she  would 
pray  as  only  a  woman  knows  how  to  pray,  that  help 
might  come  before  starvation  or  massacre  should 
be  the  fate  of  the  garrison.  The  men  had  well  nigh 
lost  hope  of  ever  seeing  any  help  coming,  but  that 
woman  had  faith,  and  in  that  faith  she  prayed.  At 
last  one  evening  as  the  mother's  eyes  were  uplifted 
toward  heaven  in  prayer  her  child  just  beginning 
to  prattle  said :  "Look  mama,  pretty  birds !"  She 
opened  her  eyes,  and,  low  down  on  the  horizon,  there 
came  a  fleet  of  English  ships.  She  screamed  to  the 
men  below:  "They  are  coming!  They  are  com- 
ing !"  A  great  shout  went  up,  the  drums  beat,  the 
cannons  let  forth  their  thunder,  and  the  enemy, 
as  well  as  all  the  garrison,  knew  that  an  English 
fleet  was  coming  to  the  rescue. 

"Fellow  countrymen,  let  me  tell  you,''  said  the 
Judge,  "while  his  eyes  seemed  to  be  swimming  in 
tears,  and  his  voice  was  almost  choked  with  emo- 
tion, "the  mothers  with  their  babes  in  their  arms, 
down  in  our  eastern  counties,  are  sitting  in  their 
desolation  and  humiliation  and  wondering  if  help 
Avill  ever  come  to  them;  and  daily  and  hourly  they 
turn  their  faces  westward  and  their  eyes  heaven- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  411 

ward,  and  as  did  that  English  mother,  they  pray 
that  help  may  come  from  the  West.  What  shall 
I  tell  them  when  I  go  down  there?  Shall  I  tell 
them  that  you  men  of  the  West  care  nothing  for 
their  degradation  and  their  humiliation;  or  shall 
I  tell  them  their  sorrows  will  soon  cease,  for  the 
patriotic  men  of  the  West  have  sworn  to  come  to 
their  relief  on  the  day  of  election?'' 

I  have  never  seen,  in  all  my  life,  such  a  sight,  as 
I  witnessed  during  the  next  few  moments.  Men 
cried  like  children;  while  hundreds  of  voices 
shouted:  ^'Tell  them  we  are  coming!  We  are 
coming!     We  are  coming!     Yes,  we  are  coming!" 

I  have  often  thought  of  that  scene,  and  wondered 
why,  when  the  story  is  told  of  the  heathen  women 
in  their  degradation  and  almost  beastly  humilia- 
tion, with  their  little  ones  around  them,  waiting 
for  the  coming  of  the  bread  of  life,  the  Christian 
people  do  not  become  as  excited  as  those  men  of 
Forsyth  did  when  they  heard  the  story  of  the  Cri- 
mean garrison  and  the  Jones  County  pauper  affair. 
I  have  learned  this  much  by  observation,  that  people 
who  are  easily  moved  by  political  speakers,  when 
prejudices  are  appealed  to,  who  shout  and  hurrah 
when  victory  perches  on  the  banners  of  their  par- 
ties, are  very  quiet  and  undemonstrative  when  at- 
tacks are  made  upon  the  world's  great  enemy;  and 
equally  so  when  victory  perches  upon  the  banner 
of  the  cross.  From  all  of  which  it  is  to  be  inferred 
that  it  is  considered  to  be  undignified  for  mortals 
to  be  emotional  in  the  matter  of  religion. 

I  can't  help  admiring  the  spirit  of  that  good  old 
sister  who,  while  shouting  and  praising  the  Lord 
for  his  great  mercies  to  her  and  her  neighbors,  said : 

^'I  do  thank  the  Lord  for  what  he  has  done  for  me 
and  mine,  and  for  the  world  in  general,  and  I'm 
going  to  praise  him  just  as  long  as  I  live;  and  when 
I  get  to  heaven  I'm  going  to  begin  praising  him 


412  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

again,  and  I  don't  expect  he  will  ever  hear  the  last 
of  it-' 

I  notice  that  the  Psalmist  alternated  between 
prayer  and  praise.  In  one  psalm  he  prayed  like  a 
sinner ;  in  another  he  praised  like  a  saint ;  and  that's 
the  reason  why  it  was  said  of  him  that  he  "was  a 
man  after  God's  own  heart." 

Prayer  and  praise  is  a  healthy  Christian  exercise, 
and  should  go  together.  Some  people  pray  all  and 
praise  none;  some  praise  all  and  pray  none.  It 
stands  to  reason  that  both  of  those  classes  are  in 
the  wrong.  If  a  man  keeps  on  cramming  shells 
into  his  gun,  and  don't  shoot  any,  his  gun  will  be 
worth  nothing  to  him,  and  quite  as  foolish  would 
be  the  man  who  would  be  all  the  time  snapping  his 
gun  when  there  was  no  load  in  it.  The  sensible 
way  is  to  load  and  shoot;  and  just  so,  the  sensible 
thing,  about  religion,  is  to  pray  until  you  fill  up; 
then  praise  the  Lord  until  you  need  loading  up 
again.  Yes,  pray  and  praise,  if  you  would  be  a 
man,  or  a  woman,  after  God's  own  heart.  God  has 
no  use  for  the  man  who  bottles  up  his  religion  and 
don't  want  folks  to  know  he's  got  any ;  and  he  has 
quite  as  little  use  for  that  man  who  is  always  brag- 
ging on  his  religion,  when  he's  got  none.  David 
was  right;  he  prayed  and  praised,  thus  keeping  up 
the  equilibrium.  If  I  were  preaching  a  sermon, 
I'd  enlarge  on  these  thoughts;  but,  as  it  is,  I'll 
close  up  by  again  requesting  the  "Marvins"  to  let 
me  hear  from  them.  If  all  the  boys  who  bear  the 
name  of  "Marvin"  will  meet  in  convention  and  re- 
solve to  be  as  good  and  as  great  as  Enoch  Marvin 
was,  what  a  power  for  good  they  may  become  in 
their  dav  and  time.     Whv  not? 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  413 


CHAPTER  LIII. 

Dangers  of  the  Money  Poiver — The  Fight  Ahead — 
Our  Last  Battle  and  the  Davie  Street  Fight. 

What  wonderful  changes  have  been  wrought  in 
the  hist  forty  years!  Prior  to  the  Civil  War,  we 
thought  a  State  was  sovereign,  and  the  general 
government  was  simply  a  confederation  of  sovereign 
States,  for  certain  ]3urposes.  But  State  sover- 
eignty is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  centralization 
walks  right  over  State's  rights,  and  even  snaps  its 
fingers  in  the  face  of  courts  and  laws.  Our  form 
of  government  is  gradually,  yet  surely,  as  I  see  it, 
changing  from  its  old-time  simplicity  of  a  "govern- 
ment by  the  people  for  the  people,"  to  a  government 
for  the  monopolists  by  the  money  power,  the  people 
being  ignored.  Modesty,  which  in  the  early  days 
of  our  government,  commended  itself  to  our  great- 
est, wisest  and  best  men,  has  lost  caste,  in  aristo- 
cratic circles,  and,  in  its  stead,  we  see  arrogance, 
corruption  and  a  total  disregard  of  that  old-time 
idea,  ''the  office  should  seek  the  man  and  not  the 
man  the  office.''  By  aristocratic  circles,  I  mean 
those  people  who  think  that  money  is  the  only  thing 
that  entitles  a  man  to  any  consideration,  or  can 
give  him  any  standing.  The  big  corporations  have 
grown  to  be  proud,  insolent,  domineering  and  over- 
bearing to  that  extent  that  men  and  parties  are 
expected  to  bow  at  their  behests  and  vote  accord- 
ing to  their  dictation.  It  is  only  a  matter  of  time 
when  the  larger  will  swallow  or  absorb  the  smaller 
corporations,  and  all  power  will,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  be  exercised  by  the  few  greater  corpora- 
tions ;  then  they  will  write  the  -partj  platforms,  and 
give  direction  to  legislation,  which  will  strengthen 


414  whitaker's  REMI^:ISCE^'C•ESJ 

their  grip  on  the  power  already  acquired,  and  em- 
bolden them  to  make  new  im^asions  u]3on  the  rights 
of  the  masses,  who  are  honest  and  unsuspecting. 

I'm  not  in  politics,  but  I  can't  help  seeing  what's 
going  on.  I  remember  the  time  when  State  sover- 
eignty was  the  boast  of  our  people;  when  we  com- 
pared our  sovereignty  to  that  "old  vine  and  fig  tree" 
under  which  one  could  not  be  molested  or  made 
afraid;  when  the  general  government  paid  due  re- 
gard and  courteous  respect  to  each  member  of  the 
family,  not  daring  to  enter  any  State  without  knock- 
ing at  the  door ;  and,  even  then,  ai3ologizing  for  in- 
terrupting the  quiet  of  the  family.  But,  now  the 
general  government  doesn't  even  ring  a  door  bell, 
but  kicks  the  door  open,  walks  right  in  and  takes 
possession,  and  does  as  it  pleases,  with  what  we 
thought  was  our  own. 

Are  we  going  to  submit  to  it?  Of  course!  It  is 
a  sad  spectacle  to  us  older  people,  seeing  the  changes 
that  are  taking  j)lace,  and  realizing,  as  we  can  not 
help  doing,  that  the  money  power  is  gradually,  yet 
surely,  crucifying  independent  manhood,  and  rear- 
ing up  a  race  of  fawning,  cringing,  dependent  be- 
ings, to  believe  that  might  is  right,  and  that  a  bone 
thrown  to  them  by  the  hand  of  wealth  is  better  than 
a  whole  ham  secured  by  independent,  honest  toil, 
under  one's  own  vine  and  fig  tree.  We  can  not 
help  thanking  Heaven  for  the  great  mass  of  horny- 
handed  sons  of  toil,  living  out  in  the  country,  who 
are  still  loving  the  traditions  of  their  ancestors. 
The  money  power  with  all  of  its  cruelties,  has  not 
yet  made  them  despair,  but  feeling  that  God  is  just 
and  true,  and  that  honest  labor  will  be  rewarded, 
they  are  following  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers, 
trying  to  live  plainly  and  simply,  yet  honestly ;  and 
trying,  at  the  same  time,  to  preserve  and  to  con- 
serve that  sacred  legacy  of  freedom  which  was  their 
inheritance.     The  countr^^  is  eminently  conserva- 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  415 

tive,  and  very  strongly  attaclied  to  the  old-time 
days.  If  freedom,  in  our  land,  should  ever  die,  its 
final  struggle,  its  last  gasp,  will  be  in  the  honest, 
simple,  unpretentious  country  homes. 

A  great  battle  is  just  ahead,  in  fact,  we  are  in  it 
now.  It  is  to  be  a  fight  to  the  finish,  contending 
for  the  old-time  ways  of  our  fathers,  when  truth 
and  patriotism  and  honesty  were  cardinal  virtues, 
and  men  were  honored  and  exalted  for  doing  right, 
and  not  because  they  were  gamblers  and  tricksters 
in  iDolitics. 

As  I  am  on  the  subject  of  fighting,  I  might  as  well 
say  we  had  quite  a  number  of  battles  fought,  in 
North  Carolina,  during  the  Civil  War;  one  of  the 
last  ones,  that  at  Bentonsville,  was  fought  in  John- 
ston County,  and  a  right  smart  skirmish  also  took 
place  about  Morrisville;  accounts  of  which  the 
world  has  heard  more  or  less.  But  the  Davie  street 
skirmish,  which  occured  here  in  Raleigh,  has  not 
been  so  well  written  up,  and  is,  therefore,  not  so 
well  remembered. 

All  wars  have  their  causes,  and  the  Davie  street 
fight  was  not  an  exception.  The  cause  in  that  case 
was  the  purchasing  of  carpets  for  the  Capitol  dur- 
ing the  days  of  carpet-baggers.  The  old-time  car- 
pets on  the  floors  in  the  Capitol  were  too  dingy  and 
worn  for  scallawags  and  carpet-baggers,  (to  say  no- 
thing of  the  negroes,  who  served  in  the  Legislature, 
or  held  offices  in  the  Capitol),  to  set  their  dainty 
feet  upon ;  so  the  Legislature  adopted  a  joint  resolu- 
tion authorizing  the  purchase  of  new  carpets,  and 
tlie  Secretary  of  State,  was  selected,  and  author- 
ized by  said  resolution  to  make  the  purchase. 
Josiah  Turner,  Esq.,  was  at  that  time  publishing 
the  "Sentinel,"  and  was  keeping  watch,  as  a  good 
sentinel  should  do,  upon  the  enemy.  When  the 
carpeting  was  bought,  it  was  said  that  the  pur- 
chaser got  enough  to  carpet  his  own  house,  as  well 


416  whitaker's  reminiscences, 


Hon.  JOSIAH  turner. 

A  fearless  Defender  of  the  Rights  of  the  people,  during  thejCays  of 
Reconstruction. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  417 

as  the  Capitol,  and  that  the  State  had  to  foot  the 
bill.  Joe  Turner  heard  of  it,  and  didn't  lose  any 
time  in  letting  the  world  hear  of  it.  The  Secretary 
paid  no  attention,  for  a  day  or  tAVO,  to  what  the 
Sentinel  had  to  say  until  another  thing  occurred. 
Mrs.  Secretary  lost  her  poundcake,  and  she  sus- 
picioned,  so  the  story  was  told,  that  a  negTo  boy, 
hired  as  butler,  or  something  else,  had  devoured  it. 
Being  a  friend  of  negroes,  as  all  Yankees  are  sup- 
posed to  be,  Mrs.  Secretary  prevailed  upon  her  hus- 
band, who  was  a  doctor,  to  give  the  boy  some  ipecac 
to  make  him  throw  up  the  cake,  to  keep  him  from 
getting  sick;  but,  in  reality,  that  she  might  know 
whether  or  not  he  ate  the  cake.  The  ipecac  worked 
all  right  and  the  missing  cake  made  its  appearance. 
Turner  heard  of  that,  and  the  next  morning  the 
Sentinel  contained  this  query:  ^'If  six  grains  of 
ipecac  will  make  a  negro  boy  throw  up  a  pound- 
cake, he  stole  from  his  mistress,  how  many  grains 
of  the  same  ipecac  would  it  take  to  make  a  man 
throw  up  a  carpet,  on  his  floor,  the  State  had  to 
pay  for?'^ 

My  old  friend,  Sam  Merrill,  who,  by  the  way,  is 
(or  was  a  few  years  ago),  in  the  city,  was  at  that 
time  the  manager  of  the  gas  works,  and  an  unrecon- 
structed rebel.  He  attended  strictly  to  his  busi- 
ness, but  kept  both  eyes  open,  as  well  as  both  ears, 
and  didn't  let  anything  pass  unnoticed.  He  w^as 
an  ardent  friend  of  Joe  Turner,  but  a  cordial  hater 
of  carpet-baggers  and  scalawags.  He  knew  that 
Turner  had  gone  to  Smithfield  to  make  a  speech 
one  day,  and  he  also  heard  from  good  authority,  that 
the  Secretary's  crowd  consisting  of  twelve  men, 
among  them  were  Bosher,  Pike,  Dixon,  Miller,  and 
others,  were  intending  to  meet  Turner  at  the  depot, 
on  his  return  from  Smithfield,  and  beat  him.  As 
soon  as  Mr.  Merrill  heard  of  it  he  determined  wliat 
27 


418  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

he  would  do.  And  what  he  did,  I  will  let  him  tell. 
He  said :  "When  I  was  informed  of  their  purpose, 
I  went  to  my  ofi6.ce  and  got  two  pistols  and  went 
down  the  FayetteYille  road  to  the  crossing,  where 
the  train  slacked  up,  in  those  days,  jumped  on  the 
car  and  gave  Joe  the  two  pistols,  and  told  him  to 
follow  me  at  the  depot.  When  we  got  there  I  took 
him  to  the  other  end  of  the  car ;  but  Bosher  saw  him 
and  said  there  he  goes ;  and  the  crowd,  the  Secretary 
in  the  lead,  ran  after  us;  Pike,  H olden,  Bosher, 
Dixon,  Miller  and  six  others — twelve  in  all.  The 
Secretary  said:  'Turner,  are  you  the  author  of 
that  article  in  the  paper  this  morning,  about  the 
negro  and  the  poundcake?'  Joe  said:  'Come  to 
my  office  and  111  give  you  all  the  information  and 
satisfaction  you  want.'  The  Secretary  said:  'ITl 
have  it  right  here!'  Joe  backed  up  against  a 
pump,  and  pulled  out  the  two  pistols  I  gave  him, 
holding  one  in  each  hand,  and  said:  'The  first 
rascal  that  comes  toward  me  I'll  put  a  hole  in  him.' 
That  put  a  stop  to  their  forward  movement.  I  was 
in  the  middle  of  the  road,  near  Joe,  with  a  monkey 
wrench  in  my  hand,  and  was  giving  them  my 
opinion,  of  twelve  men  making  an  attack  on  one 
old  man,  in  language  I  never  heard  used  in  a  Sunday 
School.  There  they  stood,  twelve  of  them,  look- 
ing at  Joe's  two  pistols  and  at  my  monkey  wrench, 
and  listening  to  m^^  remarks,  while  they  spoke  not 
a  word.  Just  then  here  came  Mayor  Harrison,  run- 
ning across  the  embankment,  and  saying  as  he 
ran:  'I  arrest  you  all;  Turner,  Merrill,  Holden, 
Pike,  Bosher,  Miller,  Dixon,  and  all  the  rest  of  3^ou. 
Be  at  my  office  at  5  o'clock.'  We  all  went  and 
there  Turner  said  that  the  affair  was  simply  a  con- 
spirac}'  of  twelve  men  to  beat  him  to  death,  'and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  a  man  with  a  monkey  wrench 
they  would  have  killed  me.'  Dixon  said  some- 
thing, and  Joe  said,  'That's  a  lie.'     That  started 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  419 

the  whole  crowd  into  a  rage,  and  they  rushed  to- 
ward Joe ;  but  he  pulled  out  his  pistols,  and  cleared 
the  room  as  fast  as  they  could  get  out.  That  was 
the  last  of  it.  So  the  public  never  did  find  out  how 
many  grains  of  ipecac  it  would  take  to  make  the 
Doctor  throw  up  that  carpet." 

The  foregoing  is  Mr.  Sam  Merrill's  account  of  an 
affair  which  made  as  big  a  stir  here  at  the  time  as 
if  a  fight  had  really  occurred.  Turner,  doubtless, 
would  have  been  badly  treated,  perhaps  killed,  if 
Merrill  had  not  warned  and  armed  him,  and  then 
stood  by  him  Avith  his  monkey  wrench.  As  th(i 
matter  turned  out,  nobody  was  hurt.  Whether 
there  was  any  truth  in  the  report  that  the  State 
paid  for  more  carpet  than  was  used  at  the  Capitol, 
I  do  not  know. 

Those  were  wonderful  times,  and  carpet-baggism 
was  in  clover,  and  remained  in  clover,  and  stayed 
as  long  as  the  clover  lasted.  The  carpet-baggers 
left  the  State  for  the  same  reason  that  vultures 
leave  a  dead  horse ;  there  were  no  pickings. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Lottie  Boner,  of  Durham, 
for  a  copy  of  '^Boner's  Lyrics,"  a  book  of  122  pages, 
neatly  printed  on  good  paper  and  well  bound  in 
cloth,  containing  the  poetic  writings  of  the  late 
John  Henry  Boner,  Esq.,  whom  I  knew  for  many 
years,  and  whose  ability  as  a  writer  of  verse  all  who 
have  read  his  Lyrics  must  acknowledge.  The  book 
contains  a  portrait  of  the  author,  and  also  a  picture 
of  his  old  home — his  birth-place — in  Salem,  N.  C. 
It  is  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Theophilus  Hunter 
Hill,  a  gentleman  who  lived  and  died  in  this  city, 
and  who  gained  for  himself,  while  living,  the  proud 
honor  of  being  classed  among  North  Carolina's 
best  writers  of  verse.  Before  closing  what  I  have 
to  say  concerning  Boner's  Lyrics,  I  want  to  add,  in 
the  language  of  the  introduction  to  the  book,  writ- 
ten by  Henry  Jerome  Stockard,  Esq. :     "Here,"  (in 


420  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

this  book),  '^are  things  that  will  live  *  *  *  Some 
ol  the  pieces  have  already  taken  their  places  in  our 
best  anthologies,  and,  more  significant  than  this, 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people.'' 

In  a  very  complimentary  manner,  Mr.  E.  E.  Hil- 
liard,  of  the  Scotland  Neck  "Commonwealth,"  re- 
fers to  a  recent  sketch  which  he  says  revived  some 
old  memories  of  his  past  life.  That  is  what  I  am 
trjdng  to  do — revive  old  memories — and,  if  possible, 
incline  the  young  people  to  a  proper  appreciation  of 
that  past,  which  laid  the  foundations  upon  which 
this  generation  is  building  and  prospering. 

I  am  in  favor  of  progress.  I  like  to  see  improve- 
ments in  everything.  I  would  not,  for  any  considera- 
tion, go  back  to  some  of  the  old-time  customs,  habits 
and  methods,  in  living;  nor,  if  a  farmer,  would  I 
use  the  old-time  plows  that  did  well  enough  in  my 
boyhood  days,  when,  instead  of,  as  now,  sweeping 
out  a  middle  with  a  single  furrow,  we  had  to  run 
six  furrows. 

Nor  would  I  go  back  to  the  old  log  meeting  house, 
our  fathers  and  mothers  worshipped  in;  nor  to  the 
old  log  school  house.  Nor  do  I  wish  to  return  to 
the  old-time  way  of  traveling,  nor  to  the  old-time 
way  of  cooking,  before  stoves  and  ranges  came  into 
use.  No,  I  do  not  wish  to  turn  the  wheel  of  pro- 
gress backward;  but  old  memories  are  very  sacred 
to  us  all  the  same,  even  though  we  had  fewer  com- 
forts and  put  on  less  style.  An  old-time  log  meet- 
ing house,  with  open  cracks  and  no  window,  save 
the  one  back  of  the  pulpit,  that  let  in  the  cold  air  on 
the  preacher's  neck,  while  preaching,  would  hardly 
be  considered  fit  for  a  tobacco  barn  now;  yet,  very 
many  precious  memories  linger  with  us,  connected 
with  that  old  place  of  worship. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  421 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

(jIov.  David  S.  Eeid's  Reception — Young  Man  who 
got  Sick  on  Sp'ilt  Oysters — Whiskey  and 
Water  Questions — Boneset  and  Blue  Mass. 

When  Governor  David  S.  Reid  was  an  aspirant 
to  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  the 
Legislature,  which  was  to  elect  a  Senator,  was  in 
session,  he  gave  a  grand  reception  at  the  old  Man- 
sion, which  stood  Avhere  the  Centennial  Graded 
School  is,  to  which  the  Legislature,  and,  as  I  re- 
member the  size  of  the  crowd,  almost  everybody 
else  in  the  city  were  invited.  The  crowd  was  im- 
mense, the  refreshments  were  abundant,  and  the 
cheer  was  royal.  ^^Little  Davy''  was  in  his  glory, 
for  he  dearly  loved  to  shake  the  people's  hands, 
and,  as  he  was  pretty  sure  of  his  election  and 
would  go  from  the  g-ubernatorial  chair  to  a  seat  in 
the  Senate,  he  was,  of  course,  in  fine  spirits.  If 
there  was  an  individual  there,  that  night,  with 
whom  he  did  not  shake  hands  two  or  three  times, 
it  was  because  he  couldn't  find  him. 

The  governor  was  about  five  feet  and  a  half  high, 
and,  the  boys  said,  the  long-tails  of  his  dress  coat, 
when  he  leaned  back,  came  very  near  reaching  to 
the  floor.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he  was  the 
first  Democratic  Governor  ever  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple in  North  Carolina;  and  he  was  the  author  of 
the  doctrine  of  Free  Suffrage,  which  had  much 
to  do  in  changing  the  politics  of  the  State.  The 
young  reader  does  not  know,  perhaps,  that  prior  to 
that  time,  while  every  man  above  twenty-one  years 
of  age  could  vote  for  all  other  ofiacers,  only  those, 
who  were  free-holders,  could  vote  for  a  Senator. 
Free  Suffrage  was,  therefore,  a  very  popular  move- 
ment, as  it  gave  thousands  of  good  men,  and  even 


422  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

wealthy  men,  who  hitherto  had  been  debarred,  the 
right  to  vote  for  Senators  as  well  as  for  members 
of  the  House  of  Commons. 

The  Whig  party  opposed  Free  Suffrage  outright, 
as  being  a  dangerous  moyement;  and  quite  a  num- 
ber of  Democrats  gaye  it  a  yery  lukewarm  support ; 
they  did  not  fight  it,  howeyer,  as  they  wished  to 
wrest  the  State  from  Whig  control. 

But,  I  am  wandering  away  from  the  Goyernor's 
Keception,  which  I  am  free  to  confess  was  the  big- 
gest social  function  that  a  boy,  raised  in  the  country, 
had  eyer  seen;  and,  I  will  add,  the  most  democratic. 
The  Goyernor  with  his  wife  did  not  back  up  against 
a  wall  with  uncles,  aunts  and  cousins  about  them, 
and  haye  the  crowd  march  around  and  shake  their 
hands.  That  was  not  his  style.  He  pulled  off 
his  gioyes,  spit  in  his  hands,  figuratiyely  speaking, 
and  launched  out  among  the  soyereigns,  reaching 
for  them,  right  and  left. 

Eefreshments,  as  already  stated,  were  abundant, 
and,  unlike  the  hand-around  affairs  of  the  present 
day  and  time,  one  large  room  was  filled  with  tables, 
which,  as  fast  as  they  were  cleared  off,  were  re- 
plenished, with  barbecue,  turkey  and  oysters,  and 
all  the  et  ceteras,  one  could  call  for.  I  am  afraid, 
lest  my  statement  might  be  doubted,  to  tell  how 
many  pigs,  turkeys  and  oysters,  report  said,  were 
consumed  there  that  night,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
loaf  bread,  cakes  and  crackers. 

In  another  room  which,  by  the  way,  was  always 
croAyded,  there  were  all  kinds  of  liquors,  and,  from 
what  the  boys  told  me,  the  punch  bowl  held  about 
a  barrel  of  the  most  insidious  stuff  that  could  be 
concocted.  It  looked  and  tasted  as  if  it  had  been 
as  innocent  as  molasses  and  water;  but,  it  played 
the  mischief  with  some  of  the  boys;  and,  from  the 
noise  some  of  the  girls  made,  I  had  a  suspicion  they 
had  receiyed  a  punch  or  two,  if  not  several.     On 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  423 

niY  way  up  Favetteyille  street,  tliat  niglit,  as  I  was 
crossing  Davie,  I  heard  the  groans  of  a  man,  who 
seemed  to  be  in  great  distress,  at  the  intersection  of 
Davie  and  Salisbury  streets.  I  hastened  to  the 
point,  and  found  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  down 
on  his  all-fours,  heaving  and  vomiting,  and,  between 
times,  saying:  ^^O  Lordy,  I'm  so  sick  I"  It  was 
quite  awhile  before  he  could  speak  to  me,  but,  when 
he  did,  he  mumbled  out:  ^'Tlrem  nasty  oysters; 
I  do  believe  they  were  spoilt.     O,  I'm  so  sick." 

^^Do  you  reckon  the  oysters  made  you  sick?"  I 
asked. 

The  only  answer  I  got  to  the  question  was :  "O 
Lordy,  I'm  so  sick  I" 

I  suppose  it  was  an  hour  before  he  would  try  to 
move.  And  when  he  did,  I  found  that  he  was  too 
weak  to  walk  alone.  I  got  him  to  his  room,  at  last, 
but  he  was  too  sick  to  sleep  and  did  not  want  to 
be  left  alone ;  so  I  spent  a  most  miserable  time  from 
then,  until  day,  hearing  him  groan  and  bewail  the 
probability  and  almost  certainty  that  he  had  a 
virulent  attack  of  bilious  fever. 

But  the  truth  was  he  was  drunk — drunk  through 
and  through,  and  stayed  drunk  several  days.  I  re- 
ported his  illness  to  some  of  his  friends,  and  some 
of  his  lady  friends  sent  such  delicacies  to  his  room 
as  they  supposed  a  sick  man  would  relish.  But, 
until  he  got  all  that  punch  and  champagne  out,  he 
didn't  feel  like  eating  anything.  He  wasvery  much 
afraid  his  sweetheart  would  get  wind  of  the  true 
nature  of  his  sickness ;  but  I  don't  think  she  did. 

I  heard  there  were  quite  a  number  who  had  spells 
of  sickness,  of  like  character,  after  that  night,  and 
the  cause,  as  I  learned  from  one  party,  was  they 
mixed  their  punch  and  champagne  too  freely. 

An  old  liquor  seller  who  used  to  sell  lager  beer, 
mostly,  said  to  me  one  day :  "I  don't  let  the  boys 
get  drunk  in  my  saloon.     I  tell  them  I  sell  lager 


424  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

beer  and  there's  no  danger  in  that ;  but,  if  they  go 
to  mixing  their  liquor  they  must  always  drink  their 
beer  first  and  drink  the  whiskey  on  top  of  the  beer 
to  hold  it  down.  If  they  drink  Avhiskey  first  and 
put  the  beer  on  top  of  that,  it  will  be  sure  to  make 
them  drunk,  because  there's  nothing  to  hold  the 
beer  down." 

I  expect  that's  about  the  way  the  boys  did  at  the 
Governor's  recepti'on;  drank  punch  first,  then  the 
champagne,  and,  as  there  was  nothing  to  hold  it 
down,  it  made  them  drunk. 

*     *     * 

A  friend  told  me  the  other  day  there  were  only 
two  questions  to  be  discussed  in  the  present  muni- 
cipal campaign — ^' Water  and  Whiskey."  The  city 
already  has  control  of  the  whiskey  l)usiness,  and 
hopes  to  keep  it ;  now  it  w^ants  to  control  the  water. 
I  am  in  favor  of  that.  I  think  it's  nothing  more 
than  our  duty,  when  we  sell  a  man  whiskey,  to  be 
able  to  give  him  some  water  to  cool  him  off,  when 
he  gets  too  hot. 

As  between  a  dispensary  and  bar-rooms,  I  am  a 
dispensary  man;  but,  I  very  much  fear  that  we 
shall  popularize  the  whiskey  business,  and  we'll 
come  to  think,  after  awhile,  just  so  we  raise  revenue 
and  build  up  fine  schools  we  need  not  be  concerned 
about  the  evils  of  drunkenness. 

I  want  it  understood  that  I  am  not  a  candidate 
for  mayor,  trial  justice,  alderman,  clerk,  nor  tax- 
collector;  therefore,  I  need  not  give  my  views  fur- 
ther than  to  say  I  prefer  the  dispensary  to  open 
bars;  but,  whenever  there  is  a  probability  of  get- 
ting prohibition  straight  out,  I'll  rejoice  to  see  the 
dispensar}^  closed.  Those  avIio  are  candidates 
should  tell  us  how  they  stand  on  the  questions 
Avhich  are  being  agitated.  We  all  like  to  know 
what's  in  a  bag — whether  pig  or  pup — before  in- 
vesting money  in  a  purchase  of  the  bag.     When  a 


I^X^IDEXTIS   AND    ANECDOTES.  425 

man  saj^s  lie's  for  good  government,  he  may  niean 
a  great  deal  or  nothing.  What  he  may  consider 
good  government  I  might  not  so  consider.  I'd 
rather  know  what  I'm  voting  for;  and  I  take  it  for 
granted  that,  men,  who  propose  to  do  the  fair  thing, 
will  not  hesitate  to  tell  how  they  stand,  and,  for 
what  they  stand.  If  one  does  not  know  how  and 
for  what  he  stands ;  or,  if  he  knows  and  don't  like 
to  say,  I'd  rather  not  vote  for  him.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  non-committals  make  good  representa- 
tives, but,  as  a  general  rule,  a  non-committal  is,  to 
say  the  least  of  it,  a  very  unsatisfactory  candidate, 
as  his  non-committalism  raises  the  suspicion  that 
he  has  no  opinions,  but  will  be  controlled  by  cir- 
cumstances, should  he  be  elected.  I'd  rather,  I  re- 
peat, know  what's  in  the  bag,  before  buying.  And 
I  feel  better  Avhen  I  know  what  the  man  I  vote  for 
will  do,  if  elected.  I  repeat,  inasmuch  as  the  city 
sells  liquor  it  ought  to  sell  the  water,  also. 

I  heard  a  fellow  say  once  that,  after  he  had  been 
on  a  big  drunk,  a  day  or  two,  he  was  that  hot  inside, 
he  felt  as  if  he  would  like  to  have  a  spring  branch 
turned  through  him  for  about  a  day,  to  cool  him  off. 
If  the  city  owned  the  water  works  and  had  a  place 
fixed  up  for  the  ^^cooling  off"  business,  and  a  kind 
of  hose  made  to  run  a  stream  of  Walnut  Creek 
water  through  a  fellow,  for  an  hour  or  two,  it  would 
be  a  paying  business ;  for,  instead  of  a  fellow's  be- 
ing obliged  to  spend  a  whole  day  ^^cooling  off,"  in 
the  ordinary  way,  during  which  time  the  dispensary 
is  losing  his  custom,  he  could  right  up  in  an  hour 
or  so  and  be  ready  for  another  pint  bottle.  Every 
friend  of  the  dispensary,  who  is  desirous  of  increas- 
ing the  sale  of  liquor,  ought,  by  all  means,  favor 
the  city's  owning  the  water  works.  It  would  in- 
deed be  a  consolation  to  us  to  be  able  to  say :  "We 
heat  'em  when  they  are  cold,  we  cool  'em  when  they 
are  hot."     Wouldn't  that  be  the  proper  thing  to  do? 


426 

Instead  of  making  a  poor  devil  drunk  and  locking 
liim  up  in  a  dark  hole,  for  a  night  to  suffer  for 
water,  and  then  trotting  him  out,  next  morning,  to 
be  tried  and  fined  for  what  the  city  encouraged  him 
to  do,  the  patriotic  fellow,  who  drinks  to  help  raise 
revenue,  ought,  rather,  to  be  kindly  treated — cooled 
off,  washed  out  and  rubbed  down,  and  then  treated 
to  one  of  Schwartz's  best  beef  steaks,  accompanied 
with  buck-wheat  cakes,  maple  syrup  and  a  cup  of 
coffee,  as  a  reward  for  his  heroic  and  patriotic  en- 
deavors to  increase  the  school  fund  and  help  work 
the  county  roads.  Yes,  let's  buy  the  water  works 
and  establish  a  ^'cooling-off"  department,  next  door 
to  the  dispensary  and  publish  our  humane  purpose 
to  the  world  by  the  following  signs,  placed  respec- 
tively over  the  front  doors  of  the  city's  two  institu- 
tions : 

Over  the  dispensary — ^^Here  we  fire  'em  up !" 
Over  the  water  works — '^Here  we  cool  'em  off." 
If  we  charge  the  same  for  cooling  as  we  do  for 
heating  a  fellow,  it's  plain  to  be  seen  that  the 
whiskey  and  water  combine  would  shave  a  fellow 
'gwine  and  coming.  If  my  numerous  friends  had 
solicited  me  to  run  for  mayor  or  alderman,  (but, 
they  forgot  to  do  so),  I  certainly  should  have  agi- 
tated that  ^^cooling-off"  business;  but,  as  it  is,  I  can 

only  suggest  it. 

*     *     * 

Before  the  war  we  didn't  have  any  saloons,  with 
screens  to  hide  a  fellow  when  he  was  practicing 
at  the  bar;  but,  we  had  ^'grog-shops,"  and  Hargett 
street,  between  Fayetteville  and  Wilmington 
streets  was  known  as  ''Grog  Alley,"  Avhile  that 
section  of  Wilmington  street  from  Hargett  to  Mar- 
ket was  known  by  the  odoriferous  title  of  "Cologne.'' 

John  Kane  and  W.  K.  Pepper,  the  former  on  the 
corner  occupied  by  the  Citizen's  National  Bank, 
and  the  latter  on  the  corner  occupied  by  Royal  & 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  427 

Bonlen-s  furniture  store,  kept  eating  establishments 
in  connection  with  the  sale  of  liquor.  On  the  cor- 
ner occupied  by  Johnson's  drug  store,  Harry  Keim 
kept  a  beer  saloon.  He  was  a  Dutchman  and  a  very 
clever  fellow,  and  had  a  host  of  friends,  because- 
of  his  kindheartedness,  which,  a  great  many  im- 
pecunious beer  guzzlers,  took  advantage  of,  greatly 
to  his  financial  hurt.  He  would  get  on  a  spree  once 
or  twice  a  month ;  on  which  occasions  he'd  lock  his 
door  and  parade  the  streets,  telling  all  he  met,  he 
was  keeping  his  birthday.  So  it  got  to  be  a  saying 
when  he  was  seen  on  the  street,  "Old  Harry  is  keep- 
ing another  birthday." 

John  Kane's  establishment,  on  Fayetteville 
street,  was  largely  patronized  by  the  country  gentle- 
men— the  well-to-do  farmers  who  came  to  town  to 
attend  court,  or  to  see  Mr.  Holden,  the  editor  of  the 
Democratic  paper,  or  Mr.  Gales,  the  editor  of  the 
Whig  paper,  to  get  the  political  news.  It  was  no 
uncommon  thing  to  see  a  gToup  of  them,  going 
across  the  street  to  John  Kane's,  and  the  passers-by 
could  see  them  stirring  their  grog  and  hear  their 
good-natured,  friendly  conversation,  while  they 
sipped  their  mint  juleps,  or  drank  their  grog.  John 
Kane  was  a  kind-hearted  Irishman ;  but,  he'd  hit  a 
felloAV  certain  if  he  undertook  to  cut  up  in  his  house. 
It  was  told  of  him,  that  he  kicked  a  drunken,  noisy 
fellow,  out  of  his  house  one  day — kicked  him  across 
the  side- walk,  and  out  near  to  the  middle  of  the 
street,  and  when,  finally,  he  let  up  on  him,  he  said, 

in  the  mildest  tone  of  voice :     ''Mr.  G. ,  I  don't 

want  to  hurt  your  feelings,  but  if  you  ever  come 
into  my  house  drunk  again,  I'll  insult  you."  The 
by-standers  were  of  the  opinion,  that,  if  the  kick- 
ing Mr.  G got,  didn't  insult  him,  Old  John 

wonld  fail,  should  he  ever  undertake  to  carry  out 
his  threat.     As  he  had  no  heir  in  this  country,  I 


428  WHITAKER'S    REMIXISCE^X^ES, 

think   his   property  escheated   to   the   UniversitT, 
when  he  died. 

I  am  reminded  of  an  incident  which,  report  said, 
occurred  at  John  Kane's.  A  young  fellow  who  had 
been  devoted  to  a  certain  yery  pretty  girl,  and,  hay- 
ing been  refused  by  her  a  half  a  dozen  times,  made 
up  his  mind  to  leaye  the  city  and  the  State,  and 
bury  himself  in  the  wilds  of  Texas,  where  he  hoped 
to  be  able  to  forget  the  past,  dropped  in  at  John 
Kane's  to  take  a  ijarting  drink  with  his  old  friends, 
before  he  left.  Haying  filled  their  glasses,  the  boys 
called  on  him  for  a  parting  toast.  Clearing  his 
throat  and  holding  up  his  glass,  he  said : 

"  Hail  Columbia,  happy  land  ! 
Here's  good-bye  to  Mary  Ann; 
Glasses  up  and  liquor  down, 
Good-bye  boys,  I  leave  the  town." 

As  much  as  I  hate  to  spoil  a  romance,  I  haye  to 
tell  the  reader  the  young  fellow  didn't  leaye  town ; 
but,  being  persuaded  by  friends  to  remain  awhile 
longer  and  make  one  more  trial,  he  yielded,  and, 
sure  enough,  the  girl  said  "yes." 
*     *     * 

I  don't  know  what  made  me  think  of  the  war 
times ;  but,  like  a  ghost,  old  memories  will  suddenly 
make  their  appearance,  and  they  look  just  as  na- 
tural as  in  life;  I  guess  'twas  the  quinine  bottle, 
that  sits  on  the  mantlepiece,  (for  we  are  all  taking 
medicine  now,  and  quinine  has  to  come  in  about 
eyery  other  time).  That  ounce  bottle  of  quinine 
could  not  haye  been  bought,  during  the  war,  for 
less  than  the  price  of  a  horse;  consequently,  we 
poor  folks  couldn't  afford  to  take  it.  What  did 
we  take  for  chills?  Why,  "boneset,"  an  ordinary 
looking  weed  that  grows  in  the  "low-ground,"  in 
the  midst  of  malaria,  which  fact  accounts  for  its 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  429 

merits  as  an  antidote  for  chills,  I  suppose,  on  the 
same  principle  of  fighting  the  devil  with  fire. 

You  never  took  a  dose  of  boneset?  I  advise  you 
not  to,  unless  the  doctor  tells  you  that's  the  last 
chance;  even  then  I'd  hesitate  awhile.  No,  I  don't 
say  it's  the  worst  thing  in  the  world ;  but,  I  do  say 
it's  the  worst  thing  I  ever  took.  A  combination  of 
asafoetida,  spirits  of  turpentine,  quinine,  castor 
oil,  ipecac,  salts  and  Jerusalem  oak,  wouldn't  begin 
to  approximate  a  dose  of  boneset;  but  it  does  the 
work.  It's  like  setting  fire  to  a  brush  heap ;  it  will 
be  sure  to  run  everything  out.  I  don't  blame  chills 
for  leaving  when  boneset  pours  in.  It  gives  me 
the  shivers,  just  to  think  of  boneset;  then,  when 
I  remember  how  it  used  to  heat  me  up,  I  ara  almost 
sure  to  commence  sweating. 

We  couldn't  always  get  calomel  during  the  war, 
but  we  could  get  a  right  plentiful  supply  of  blue- 
mass;  and,  so,  it  became  a  very  popular  medicine. 
I  knew  a  family  which  had  such  faith  in  it,  that  it 
was  considered  a  misfortune,  next  kin  to  a  calamity, 
not  to  have  a  box  of  it  in  the  house.  Especially 
did  the  old  lady,  of  the  house,  think  so.  Before 
going  to  bed,  at  night,  she  generally  ascertained 
the  condition  of  each  member  of  the  family,  and  if 
there  was  any  bad  feeling,  at  all,  by  any  one,  the 
blue-mass  was  prescribed.  The  old  man  didn't  have 
as  much  confidence  in  it,  as  the  other  members  of 
the  family,  but  he  always  took  his  pill  when  his 
wife  told  him  to  do  it.  The  blue-mass  was  about 
out,  on  one  occasion,  and  the  good  wife  gave  her 
husband  very  positive  orders  to  buy  a  box  of  ^^blue- 
masting  pills"  the  very  first  time  he  should  go  to 
town.  But  he  forgot  it.  A  few  days  thereafter, 
one  of  the  children  had  a  head-ache  and,  the  ever 
anxious  wife,  who  believed  in  the  doctrine,  that 
an  ounce  of  prevention  is  better  than  a  pound  of 
cure,  called  for  the  blue-mass;  but,  lo,  the  box  was 


430  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

empty.  About  that  time  the  old  man  came  in  and 
the  old  lady  met  him  with  the  question : 

"Where's  the  blue-masting  pills  I  told  you  to  get 
when  you  went  to  town?" 

"Thar  now!  Blamed  if  I  didn't  forget  'em,  as 
clear  as  a  whistle !"  the  old  man  said  apologetically. 

"Forget  'em  I  That's  just  like  you.  Always  for- 
getting. Xow,  here's  a  pretty  come  off — a  sick 
child  and  no  blue-masting  pills.  Now  we'll  have 
to  have  a  Doctor  and  that  will  cost  five  dollars,  and 
the  poor  child  may  die  before  the  doctor  gets  here, 
and  there'll  be  a  cof&n  to  buy,  and  all  hands  will 
be  out  of  the  fields  a  whole  day  to  attend  the  fun- 
eral, as  busy  as  the  times  are,  and  I'll  have  to  buy 
a  black  dress  and  go  into  mourning  for  a  whole  year, 
and  all  because  you  forgot  to  do  what  I  told  you. 
NoAv  how  do  you  feel?" 

"I  don't  think  blue-mass  would  save  a  child  if 
he  was  going  to  die  and " 

"Weren't  you  taken  with  a  bad  head-ache,  just 
like  William  Henry,  the  other  day;  and  didn't  you 
get  well  in  about  an  hour?" 

"O,  yes,  that's  so;  you  did  give  me  a  i)ill  and  I 
got  well  right  straight."  Eunning  his  fingers  into 
his  vest  pocket  and  taking  out  something,  he  said : 
"Here's  the  pill  I  took.  Instead  of  taking  it  I  put 
it  into  my  pocket." 

Nevertheless,  his  wife  made  him  put  out  to  town 
after  some  blue-mass,  and  he  told  the  funny  story 
to  all  he  met,  going  and  coming.  That  Avas  during 
the  war,  when  women  dressed  in  home-spun,  the 
men  wore  wood  bottom  shoes,  sorghum  was  our 
SAveetening,  and  Confederate  money  was  as  good 
as  gold,  to  the  fellow  who  didn't  have  any  gold. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  431 


CHAPTER  LV. 

Some  Old-time  Neiospaper  Presses — Church  Trial 
Fifty  Yecn^s  Ago — Singing  Geography — Prof, 
Johnson  and  Old  Father  Monroe. 

What  mammoth  newpapers  we  have  now-a-days; 
and  how  like  lightning  do  they  fly  from  the  presses ; 
and  what  tremendous  circulations  they  have;  and 
how  well  are  they  filled  with  news;  and  what  a 
vast  influence  they  exert!  As  compared  with  the 
papers,  presses  and  circulations  of  a  century  ago, 
they  are  as  mountains  to  mole  hills  or  as  oceans  to 
mill  ponds. 

And,  yet,  these  great  concerns  are  built  on  foun- 
dations that  were  laid  in  other  years,  by  other 
minds  and  hearts  and  hands.  I  make  the  point, 
therefore,  that  the  big  concerns  of  to-day  are  but 
the  outcome  of  thought  and  labor  bestowed  on  the 
printing  business  in  the  years  gone  by. 

If  the  argument  is  correct,  it  proves  that  growth 
is  the  laAV  of  the  scientific  as  well  as  of  the  natural 
world;  and  that,  just  as  great  discoveries  and  as 
startling  inventions  are  ahead  of  us,  as  have  been 
made  in  the  past;  and  also  that  the  triumphs  of 
science,  in  the  future,  will  depend  upon  the  achieve- 
ments of  to-day. 

If  that  be  true,  who  can  form  any  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  printing  business  a  hundred  years 
hence? 

Xinety  years  ago  my  father  was  a  printer  boy 
in  the  Register  office.  That  paper  was  worked  on 
a  Rammage  press,  and  the  ink  was  applied  to  the 
type  by  balls  made  of  deer  skin  filled  with  wool. 
Those  balls  had  handles  and  looked  like  gourds. 
The  boy  who  inked  the  form  had  a  ball  in  each 
hand,  and,  while  the  pressman  was  taking  off  one 


432  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

sheet  and  putting  on  another,  he  would  be  patting 
the  form  with  his  deer  skin  balls.  The  Eammage 
press  was  so  constructed  that  two  pulls  were  re- 
quired to  the  side,  and  a  paper  a  minute  was  about 
the  average  speed  of  the  press. 

When  I  went  into  the  newspaper  business,  fifty 
years  ago,  the  old  Washington  press  was  the  best 
one  that  Raleigh  could  boast  of ;  and  it  was  simply 
an  improvement  on  the  Franklin  press,  as  the 
Franklin  had  been  on  the  Eammage. 

The  Standard  office  was  supplied  with  an 
^^Adams  Power  Press"  some  time  in  the  early  fif- 
ties, which  I  think  was  the  first  power  press  that 
ever  came  to  Raleigh.  The  Weekly  Post,  published 
by  William  D.  Cooke,  the  principal  of  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  and  Blind  Institution,  was  also  worked  on 
an  Adams  Power  Press,  which  press  I  bought  in 
1858,  and  sold  to  John  Spelman  in  1860 ;  and  which, 
by  the  way,  was  the  press  broken  by  the  mob  that 
demolished  Spelman's  office  in  1863,  but  was 
mended  up  and  served  the  purpose  of  printing  the 
^'Daily  Confederate'^  until  the  close  of  the  war  in 
1865. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Age  also  had  a  power  press, 
run  with  a  caloric  engine,  as  far  back  as  the  early 
fifties ;  and  later  on  the  Register  office  secured  one. 
So  that  the  Washington  press  which,  in  1850,  was 
the  best  in  use,  had  almost  been  forgotten  in  1860; 
or,  at  any  rate,  had  been  set  aside.  So,  too,  the 
power  presses  which  pushed  the  Washington  press 
to  the  rear,  have  themselves  been  laid  aside,  and, 
in  their  stead  are  to  be  seen  the  fine  machines  which 
print  thousands  of  sheets  by  the  hour — as  many 
as  the  old-time  power  presses  did  in  a  day — while 
another  machine  takes  the  papers,  as  they  leave 
the  press,  and  folds  them  ready  for  mailing. 

Bv  the  way,  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  copy  of  the 
"Spirit  of  the  Age,"  dated  August  15,  1851,  over 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  433 

fifty-two  years  ago.  It  contains  many  things  of 
interest  I  wonld  like  to  reproduce  for  the  old-time 
sake;  but,  your  readers  might  not  enjoy  them  as  I 
do,  so  I  Ayill  giye  but  an  item  or  two : 

And  first,  I  notice  an  account  of  a  temperance 
meeting  at  Holly  Springs,  August  9th,  at  which 
addresses  were  made  by  Key.  Johnson  Oliye  and 
A.  R.  McDonald,  after  which  twenty-four  persons 
were  initiated  into  the  Sons  of  Temperance.  A 
good  day's  work. 

A  writer  from  Tarboro  congratulates  the  good 
people  upon  the  fact  that  intemperance  is  gradu- 
ally becoming  less,  and  predicts  that  in  a  few  years 
total  abstinence  will  be  the  preyailing  sentiment  in 
the  State.  He  notes  the  fact  that  an  election  had 
recently  taken  place,  and  not  a  drop  of  liquor  was 
on  the  ground.  An  old  man  remarked  that  he  had 
neyer  seen  an  election,  where  there  was  no  liquor, 
before. 

I  see  a  letter  from  Alexander  County,  telling 
of  a  church  trial  at  Little  Riyer  church,  when  Reyst 
John  W.  Jones,  J.  J.  Watts  and  James  F.  Steel, 
three  ministers,  were  tried  for  haying  joined  the 
Sons  of  Temperance.  Deacon  Elisha  Robbinett, 
brought  the  attention  of  the  church  to  the  matter 
as  follows :  ^'Mr.  Moderator,  I  wants  to  know  ef 
enny  of  the  members  of  the  Little  Riyer  church 
has  jined  the  Sons  of  Temperance?  I  haye  hearn 
as  how  three  brothers  has  jined,  and  b'leeyin'  as  I 
do,  it  ain't  accordin'  to  Christian  doctrine  fer  men 
to  jine  these  traditions  of  men,  I  moye  to  turn  'em 
all  three  out."  The  yote  was  taken,  seyenty  yoting 
to  turn  them  out;  and  twenty-nine  yoting  to  retain 
them  in  the  church.  So  the  Little  Riyer  church 
turned  out  three  preachers  because  they  fayored 
temperance.  Then,  one  of  the  seyenty  who  yoted 
to  turn  out  the  preachers,  made  a  motion  to  turn 
28 


434  WHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

out  the  twenty-nine  who  voted  against  turning  out 
the  preachers.  The  motion  was  put,  and  out  went 
the  twenty-nine.  Three  preachers  and  twenty-nine 
members  turned  out,  at  one  church  trial,  was  a 
pretty  good  day's  work;  but,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  it  was  a  high-handed  piece  of  business,  the 
majority  turning  out  the  minority;  and  a  novel 
way  the  liquor  element,  in  that  church,  had  of  mak- 
ing the  church  solid  for  whiskey.  That  was  fifty- 
two  years  ago. 

^^The  Sun  do  Move,"  has  not  been  half  so  clearly 
demonstrated,  as  the  fact  that  "public  sentiment 
do  move!''  When  I  remember  the  feeling  against 
the  temperance  movement,  fifty  years  ago,  when 
there  was  a  brandy  still  near  almost  every  farmer's 
spring,  and  the  decanter  stood  boldly  wpon  al- 
most every  gentleman's  side-board;  and  the 
morning  dram  was  almost  as  common  as  the  break- 
fast in  many  homes,  and  even  the  preachers  took 
a  little  for  their  stomach's  sake ;  and  the  idea,  among 
the  common  people,  was  that  alcohol  was  one  of 
God's  good  creatures,  and  not  to  drink  it  at  all  was 
a  reflection  upon  the  Creator  ;^I  say,  when  I  think 
of  all  these  things,  and  then  turn  my  mind  to  the 
fact  that  the  sale  of  liquor  in  North  Carolina  is 
confined  to  the  towns  and  cities,  and  being  in  many 
places  sold  only  at  dispensaries,  I  am  amazed  at 
the  strides  that  public  sentiment  has  made. 

When  I  was  a  boy  we  had  a  geography  singing 
school  at  the  old  Eed  Meeting  House,  now  Holland's 
church.  Starting  in  a  sort  of  chant,  Avhich  sounded 
very  much  like  a  sure  enough  song,  our  teacher 
would  name  all  the  divisions  of  the  earth,  includ- 
ing islands ;  the  oceans,  seas,  gulfs,  lakes,  bays  and 
archipelagoes,  the  rivers,  mountains,  volcanoes, 
countries,  capitals,  largest  cities,  and  so  forth,  un- 
til he  had  gone  all  over  the  world  a  dozen  times  in 
a  day.  Scholars  had  no  books,  but  sang  after  him 
as  he  led  the  song.     A  large  map  hung  on  the  wall. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  435 

and  with  a  reed  he  would  point  out  the  places  as  he 
would  call  their  names.  The  noise  was  equal  to  a 
pack  of  hounds  in  full  cry  after  a  fox. 

A  fellow  could  not  help  learning,  going  over  the 
same  thing  every  day  for  two  or  three  Aveeks.  He 
would  soon  get  so  that  he  could  not  only  name  all 
the  countries,  capitals,  oceans,  seas,  lakes,  rivers, 
etc.,  but  could  locate  them  on  the  map  as  readily  as 
he  could  call  out  their  names.  I  am  sure  I  learned 
more  geography  in  that  singing  school  than  I  ever 
did  before  or  since. 

And  then  I  went  to  a  grammar  school,  taught 
orally,  which  did  more  to  acquaint  me  Avith  old 
Lindley  Murray's  Rules,  Notes  and  Exceptions, 
than  I  could  have  gained  in  years.  As  in  the  study 
of  geography,  we  used  no  books  but  repeated  after 
the  teacher  until  we  had  learned  to  say  what  he 
said;  after  which  we  began  to  ^'parse,''  and  were 
thus  taught  the  meaning  and  use  of  the  rules,  notes 
and  exceptions.  Then  we  began  to  use  our  gram- 
mars, and  to  read  for  ourselves  what  we  had  already 
learned  by  oral  teaching.  Thinking  over  the  mat- 
ter, I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  our  children 
would  learn  faster  and  more  thoroughly,  what  they 
do  learn,  if  fewer  studies  were  taken  up  at  a  time. 
I  see  children  going  to  school  with  from  a  half 
dozen  to  a  dozen  books,  and  I  wonder  if  the  little 
boy  or  girl  is  getting  as  much  benefit  from  many, 
as  he  or  she  could  from  fewer  books,  well  studied 
and  explained. 

But,  as  I  have  been  out  of  the  school  teaching 
business  for  over  fifty  years,  and  great  changes 
have  taken  place  and  greater  improvements  have 
been  made  along  all  lines,  especially  in  schools  and 
in  teaching,  I  guess  I  had  better  not  meddle  with 
the  school  business.  I  will  say  this  much,  however, 
the  adA^antages  to  get  an  education  are  a  hundred 
fold  better  than  they  were  sixty  vears  ago,  and,  of 


J:36  WHITAKER'S   REMIXISCE^X^ES, 

course,  the  outcome  of  our  schools  ought  to  be  a 
hundred  fold  better  than  when  the  advantages  were 
so  few  and  so  poor. 

I  met  Prof.  N.  D.  Johnson  the  other  day,  who, 
while  he  does  not  exactly  belong  to  the  ^^old  ish,''  is 
nevertheless  an  old-time  friend  of  the  post-bellum 
days.  Twenty-five  years  ago  I  made  a  temperance 
speech  at  Spring  Hill  church,  in  Kichmond  County, 
Avhere  I  became  acquainted  with  the  Johnsons. 
The  Professor  promised  to  give  me  some  facts  con- 
nected with  the  early  history  of  that  church,  the 
organization  of  the  old  Spring  Hill  temperance 
society,  etc.,  to  weave  into  some  future  sketch. 

The  venerable  Rev.  John  Monroe,  was  the  pastor 
of  that  church  when  I  was  there  and  seemed  to  be 
a  father  in  Israel,  indeed.  In  fact,  from  what  I 
could  see  and  hear  of  him,  the  members  of  his 
church,  as  well  as  the  people  generally,  seemed  to 
regard  him  as  prophet,  priest  and  king.  Just  be- 
fore leaving  the  church  that  day,  the  old  patriarch 
came  to  me  in  a  very  quiet  way  and  said  he'd  like  to 
have  a  word  with  me ;  so  saying,  he  led  the  way  un- 
til we  had  walked  beyond  a  turn  in  the  road ;  then 
stopping  and  speaking  just  above  a  whisper,  he 
said :  "My  brother,  I  know  you  are  bound  to  have 
money  to  pay  3'our  traveling  expenses  and  I  want 
to  give  you  a  mite,''  handing  me  a  dollar.  "Don't 
say  anything  about  it;  I  only  wish  that  I  had  more 
to  give  you."  I  thought,  as  I  looked  into  his  hon- 
est face,  as  he  was  handing  to  me  his  only  dollar, 
with  the  wish  that  he  had  more  to  give  for  the  sake 
of  the  cause  of  temperance,  surely  it  can't  be  long- 
before  a  generation  taught,  as  old  John  Monroe  has 
taught,  will  come  forth  in  giant  strength  to  com- 
bat with  and  to  overcome  the  black  monster  of  in- 
temperance. And  is  not  that  generation  here  to- 
day? Professor  Johnson  will  do  his  county  good 
service  if,  in  the  notes  he  makes  of  the  early  strug- 


INCIDENTS    AND    ANECDOTES.  437 

gies  tlirouiih  which  the  people,  about  Spring  Hill, 
fought  their  way  to  higher  and  better  conditions, 
socially  and  religiously,  he  will  give  a  page  to  the 
life  and  labors  of  Rev.  John  Monroe,  and  the  other 
moral  and  religious  stalwarts  who,  with  home-made 
axes,  blazed  the  way  for  their  children  and  grand- 
children to  find  an  easy  entrance  into  the  land  flow- 
ing Avith  milk  and  honey.  A  hundred  years  ago, 
how  dark  as  compared  with  now!  My  father  Avas 
a  boy  and  was  beginning  to  learn  of  men  and  things. 
They  told  him  the  story  of  the  Revolution  and  of 
Washington's  greatness,  calling  him  the  father  of 
his  country;  he  heard  and  read  of  Napoleon  Bona- 
parte ;  and  he  may  have  heard  of  the  bloody  scenes 
of  the  French  revolution ;  and,  as  his  mind  unfolded 
it  took  in  the  bits  of  history  that  were  little  bet- 
ter than  myths;  but  my  father,  when  a  boy,  heard 
no  talk  of  railroads,  or  telegraphs,  or  telephones,  or 
electric  lights;  nor  had  he  ever  seen  an  envelope, 
nor  a  match;  and  could  not  have  believed,  if  you 
had  told  him,  that  the  time  would  come  when  upon 
our  streets  carriages,  called  cars,  would  run  on 
tracks,  faster  than  a  horse  could  run,  nothing  a 
pulling,  nothing  a  pushing.  And  if  you  had  told 
him  that  the  time  would  come  when  a  song  sung 
in  London  would  be  bottled  up  and  brought  across 
the  ocean,  unbottled  and  sung  a  thousand  times, 
(as  the  phonograph  is  able  to  reproduce  sound 
and  to  speak  words),  he  would  have  said,  ^^impos- 
sible!'' 

We  are  a  smart  people  in  this  era  of  the  world's 
history;  but  we  must  not  suppose  we  acquired  all 
the  wisdom  and  brought  to  pass  all  the  great  events 
of  this  great  age,  of  and  within  ourselves.  Back 
of  us  were  heroes  who  fought  battles  and  overcame 
obstacles  that  would  appall  the  bravest  and  the 
strongest  of  our  day.  It  needed  John  Monroes  to 
do  the  work  of  a  hundred  vears  ago.     The  Queen  of 


438  whitaker's 

Sheba,  when  she  had  seen  the  glory  of  Solomon's 
greatness,  and  was  forced  to  exclaim,  because  lan- 
guage could  not  describe  it,  '^the  half  has  not  been 
told  I''  forgot  to  tell  of  the  hardships,  of  Israel  in 
Egypt  and  in  the  wilderness,  which  paved  the  way 
to  and  made  possible  that  glory.  Let  us  not  for- 
get the  pit  from  which  we  were  dug. 

The  John  Monroes,  of  the  old-time,  building  log 
meeting  houses,  were  laying  the  foundations  for 
the  beautiful  churches  in  which  this  generation 
is  worshipping  to-day. 

No,  my  father  had  no  idea,  when  he  was  a  boy, 
that  his  son  would  be  able  to  step  from  the  pave- 
ment at  his  own  door,  upon  a  street  car,  that  would 
take  him  to  a  train;  and  without  muddying  his 
feet,  hardly  touching  the  ground,  he  could  go  from 
Ealeigh  to  San  Francisco,  to  Mexico,  to  Bos- 
ton, to  Canada,  and  to  almost  any  hamlet  in  North 
Carolina,  traveling  at  a  speed  of  fifty  miles  an  hour. 
Nevertheless  his  labors,  and  the  labors  of  those  who 
lived  before  him,  contributed  to  the  making  of  these 
things  possible.  Others  wrought  and  Ave  enjoy. 
Let  us  labor  that  others  coming  after  us  may  enjoy. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  489 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

Homely  People — ^ome  Ugly  People  are  Good  LooJc- 
ing — Bill  Jinls  and  Jim  Jones. 

I  like  a  thing  that's  lasting,  if  I  may  except  such 
things  as  bad  colds,  headaches,  tooth  aches,  boils, 
carbuncles  and  people  who  are  always  fussy  and 
complaining.  The  less  I  have  to  do  with  such,  the 
happier  I  am.     I  have  heard  it  said : 

*'  Beauty  is  but  skin  deep, 
Ugly's  to  the  bone; 
Beauty's  very  hard  to  keep; 
Ugly  holds  its  own;" 

and  I  guess  it  must  be  true,  for  I  daily  meet  old 
friends  who  tell  me  I  don't  change  a  bit — look  just 
like  I  did  forty  years  ago — which  is  pretty  strong 
evidence  that  ^'it's  to  the  bone."  I  had  freckles 
when  a  boy,  and  used  to  wash  my  face  in  butter- 
milk to  take  them  off ;  but  it  soon  got  so  I  couldn't 
make  the  milk  pass  my  mouth ;  so,  I  let  them  spread 
until  they  ran  into  each  other  and  became  a  solid 
freckle;  and  thus  it  has  stood  for  over  half  a  cen- 
tury. 

Speaking  of  ugly  people,  our  little  city  had  a 
goodly  number  of  them,  in  times  past,  whose  names 
I  would  like  to  mention,  but  I  forbear,  lest  I  might 
overlook  some  and  fail  to  mention  others,  who  were 
quite  as  ugly ;  and,  in  so  doing  offend  some  of  their 
living  kin. 

A  little  story  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the 
number  of  ugly  men  we  once  had,  and  make  him 
understand  also  hoAv  evenly  matched  they  were,  as 
to  looks. 

A  man  from  the  country  was  coming  to  Raleigh 
on  a  certain  occasion  to  see  a  gentleman  whom  he 
did  not  know;  but,  his  neighbors  told  him  there 


440  WHITAKER'8    REMIXISCE>'CE>S, 

Avoiild  be  no  difficult}^  in  finding  and  recognizing 
liim.  ^^The  ugliest  man  tou  meet  on  the  street," 
they  said,  ^^vill  be  the  man  tou  wish  to  see." 

Soon  after  he  arrived  he  met  one  whom  he 
thought  would  fill  the  bill,  and  he  began  to  skirm- 
ish around  him;  but,  before  he  ventured  to  speak 
to  him,  here  came  another  who,  he  thought,  was 
just  a  little  grain  uglier  than  the  first  one;  so,  he 
began  to  ^^sidle"  up  to  him,  and  Avas  just  in  the  act 
of  introducing  himself  and  proceeding  to  business, 
when,  looking  across  the  street,  he  saAv  another 
approaching,  a  little  harder  favored,  than  either 
of  the  other  two.  He  felt  very  sure  then,  he'd 
found  his  man,  and  so,  he  ventured  to  call  him, 
^^Mr.  B."  The  gentleman  looked  at  him  in  amaze- 
ment and  said:  ^^Do  you  intend  to  insult  me?" 
The  poor  country  fellow  didn't  know  how  to  an- 
swer, except  to  say:  ^'I'm  a  stranger  here  and 
came  to  see  Mr.  B.,  and  I  didn't  knoAv  but  you  were 
he,  as  some  one  told  me  he's  about  your  size."  Just 
then  another  gentleman  hove  in  sight,  and  the  coun- 
tryman knew  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and  thouo'ht 
the  right  man  was  approaching;  but  he'd  been  so 
badly  scared  by  the  last  one  he  let  number  four 
go  by  without  speaking  to  him;  in  fact,  a  fifth  one 
appeared  just  then,  whose  ugly  was  so  well  set  and 
deep-rooted  he  just  knew  neither  of  the  four  was 
Mr.  B.,  and,  not  knowing  how  many  more  there 
were  to  come,  nor  how  long  his  anxiety  would  be 
prolonged,  he  decided  to  go  home  and  bring  a  man 
with  him  who  knew  Mr.  B.,  rather  than  run  the 
risk  of  insulting  anybody  else. 

Yes,  Ave  used  to  have  some  very  substantial  cases 
of  ugly  in  our  city,  but  our  people  had  the  good 
sense  to  rate  men  and  Avomen  by  their  deeds  and  not 
b}"  their  looks,  fully  believing  in  the  adage  that, 
"pretty  is,  that  pretty  does." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  441 

I  never  tlioiiglit  au  ugly  person  ought  to  be 
blamed  for  his  ugliness.  A  man  is  not  responsible 
for  being  hair-lipped,  club-footed  or  cross-eyed ;  for 
being  bow-legged,  bandj-shanked,  or  knock-kneed; 
for  being  black-eyed,  blue-eyed,  green-eyed,  or  cat- 
eyed;  for  having  black  hair,  brown  hair,  red  hair, 
white  hair,  or  no  hair;  for  spluttering,  stuttering, 
or  hemming  and  hawing  when  he  tries  to  talk ;  nor 
for  having  a  Roman  or  Grecian,  pug  or  hog,  flat  or 
sharp,  crooked  or  straight  nose. 

I  have  seen  some  very  good  looking  people  who 
were  very  ugly;  and  I  have  seen  some  very  ugly 
people  who  were  good  looking ;  and  I  don't  hesitate 
to  say,  I  like  the  latter  class  the  better.  And  this 
leads  me  to  remark  that  a  pretty  girl  very  much  de- 
tracts from  her  prettiness  when  she  descends  to 
slang  and  poses  as  a  fast  girl ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  homely  girl  groAvs  in  beauty  and  loveliness 
every  day,  if  she  be  modest  and  sensible  in  her  de- 
meanor and  conversation. 

Some  people  have  two  sets  of  manners — one  for 
the  home — the  other  for  company  or  when  they 
go  a  visiting ;  some,  on  the  other  hand,  have  no  man- 
ners at  all,  at  home  nor  abroad — while  others,  still, 
are  well-behaved  all  the  time,  and  everywhere,  and 
don't  have  to  go  to  the  trouble  of  "putting  on,"  as 
it's  perfectly  natural  with  them  to  be  polite,  court- 
eous and  genteel.  Refinement  is  inbred,  and  it 
doesn't  know  how  to  be  otherwise  than  genteel, 
and  ladylike. 

Hotel  keepers  soon  size  up  a  man.  Their  cri- 
terion is  table  manners.  A  well-bred  man  is  very 
apt  to  eat  such  things  as  he  likes,  if  they  can  be 
had;  if  they  are  not  to  be  had,  he  makes  his  meal, 
as  best  he  can,  on  what  is  set  before  him,  pays  his 
bill  and  leaves.  Another  fellow,  who  would  have 
you  believe  that  he  is  exceedingh^  tony,  and  used 
to  high  living,  is  much  harder  to  please.     He  finds 


4:4:2  AYHITAKER'S    REMINISCEN'CES, 

fault  with  every  thing;  and,  if  the  landlord  shows 
himself,  while  he  is  at  the  table,  he'll  be  very  apt 
to  ask  him  why  he  has  not  this  or  that,  for  gentle- 
men to  eat? 

I  have  often  noticed  the  difference  in  the  behavior 
of  people,  and  always  observed  that  gentlemen  and 
ladies  are  easier  satisfied  at  hotels  and  with  travel- 
ing arrangements  than  are  those  people  who,  having 
made  a  little  money,  are  trying  to  put  on  the  swell, 
but  don't  know  how.  Office  sometimes  makes  a 
blockhead  of  a  fellow;  in  fact,  it  ruins  not  a  few, 
who  before  their  election,  were  supposed  to  be  very 
clever.  They  seem  to  forget  they  are  servants  and, 
that  the  little  authority  with  which  they  are  in- 
vested, for  a  long  time,  belongs  to  the  people  whom 
they  are  serving.  A  sap-head  of  that  species,  for 
decency's  sake,  should  be  taken  down.  And  it's 
only  a  matter  of  time  when  he  will  be  dropped  out ; 
and,  when  it  will  be  too  late  for  him,  to  be  bene- 
fitted by  it,  he  will  doubtless  repent  of  his  swell- 
headedness  and  wish  he  had  utilized  more  common 
sense,  in  the  time  of  his  promotion. 

Going  back  to  old  times,  I  am  reminded  of  an 
experience  of  a  circuit  rider  which  I  think  is  worth 
a  place  in  these  sketches  because  of  the  moral  that 
may  be  drawn  from  it.  At  one  of  his  churches 
there  were  two  men,  both  members,  who  hated  each 
other  like  snakes  and  abused  each  other  most  un- 
mercifully when  not  together.  When  together 
and  the  preacher  was  present,  they  seemed  to  be 
all  right  and  brothered  each  other  as  if  they  had 
never  had  an  unkind  thought.  One  of  them  we  will 
call  ''Bill  Jinks"  and  the  other  'Mini  Jones."  They 
were  not  exactly  pillars  in  the  church,  but  they 
Avere  emphatically  "sleepers,"  for  neither  ever  kept 
awake  to  hear  an  hour's  sermon.  When  Bill  was 
asleep  Jim  saw^  it  and  would  be  sure  to  make  an 
uncharitable  remark  about  it,  saying  how  disgrace- 
ful it  was  for  a  man,  pretending  to  be  a  Christian, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  44S 

to  go  to  sleep  while  the  minister  was  preaching; 
and  when  Jim  was  asleep  Bill  had  his  turn  in  ex- 
pressing his  opinion  about  him. 

One  night  the  preacher  stopped  with  Bill,  and 
after  supper  the  condition  of  the  church  was  dis- 
cussed. Bill  said:  ^^I'll  tell  you,  brother,  just 
how  it  is  here.  The  people  like  you  all  right,  and 
thev  think  you  are  a  great  preacher,  (that's  my 
opinion  too)  ;  but  our  church  will  never  be  able 
to  prosper  while  Jim  Jones  is  a  member  of  it ;  he's 
a  dead  weight  and  will  sink  anything  he's  tied  to." 

"What's  the  difficulty  brother?  the  preacher 
asked. 

"Why,  he  ain't  honest.  (Kemember,  brother,  this 
is  graveyard  talk,  and  it  ain't  to  go  any  further.)" 

"Not  honest  you  say,  brother." 

"No,  he  ain't  honest.  He  won't  pay  his  debts. 
He  owes  everybody  in  the  neighborhood  and  you 
couldn't  collect  a  dollar  out  of  him  by  law." 

"Has  he  no  property?"  the  preacher  asked. 

"His  wife  has.  That's  the  trick  the  rascal  is 
plavino-.  He  oets  property  and  puts  it  in  his  wife's 
name  and  the^re  it  is.  No,  brother,  I'm  sorry  to 
have  it  to  say,  but  duty  compels  me  to  tell  you 
that  Jim  Jones  is  an  Achan  in  the  camp,  and  there'll 
never  be  any  prosperity  in  the  camp  until  we  get 
him  out." 

The  preacher  sighed  heavily  at  the  information, 
prudentlv  remarking,  he  hoped  the  Good  Spirit 
would  incline  brother  Jones  to  lead  a  better  life. 

On  the  next  round  the  preacher  stopped  with 
brother  Jones,  and  after  supper  they  sat  out  on  the 
porch  to  talk  over  church  matters.     Brother  Jones 

said : 

"I'll  tell  vou,  brother,  just  how  it  is  here.  The 
people  like  you  all  right,  and  they  think  you  are  a 
great  preacher,  (that's  my  opinion,  too;)  but  our 
church  can  never  prosper  so  long  as  that  fellow 


444  whitaker'8  reminiscences, 

Bill  Jinks,  tou  staved  with,  the  other  night,  stays 
in  it.  He's  a  dead  Aveight  that  will  sinkanTthing 
he-s  tied  to.'' 

"What's  the  difficulty?"  the  preacher  asked. 

"Why,  he  ain't  honest.  ( But  remember,  brother, 
tliis  is  graveyard  talk  that  ain't  to  go  any  further. ) 
Xo,  he  ain't  honest.  He  won't  pay  "his  debts.  He's 
got  plenty  of  money  and  two  or  three  tracts  of  land ; 
but  the  rescal  has  put  everything  in  his  wife's  name 
and  not  a  dollar  could  you  collect  out  of  him  by 
law.  ( Xow,  you  are  not  to  say  a  word  about  what 
I  tell  you.)  He's  a  mean  man — a  regular  Achan 
in  the  camp  and  we'll  never  do  anything  here  until 
the  camp  is  cleaned  out." 

The  preacher  sighed  and  said  he  hoped  the  Good 
Spirit  would  incline  brother  Jinks  to  lead  a  better 
life. 

The  next  day  he  preached  from  the  text:  ''I 
thought  on  my  ways,"  and,  not  giving  names,  or 
locating  the  church,  he  told  the  whole  story.  With 
the  exception  of  two  men  who  hung  their  heads 
and  looked  steadily  on  the  floor,  the  congregation 
greatly  enjoyed  the  picture  he  drew  of  tAvo  men, 
guilty  of  the  same  sin,  telling  on  each  other.  He 
never  heard  any  more  from  brother  Jinks  or  brother 
Jones.  On  the  contrary  they  became  rather  chummy 
after  that.  They  are  both  dead  now,  and,  it  is  to 
be  hoi3ed  they  have  gone  where  they  understand 
and  love  each  other  better. 

I  hardly  ever  go  anywhere  without  finding  a  "Bill 
Jinks"  and  a  "Jim  Jones" — men  who  see  and  talk 
at)out  other  jDcople's  faults,  but  don't  seem  to  real- 
ize how  sinful  they  are.  And,  as  I  sit  and  listen 
at  "Bill"  talking  about  "Jim,"  I  wonder  what  Jim 
Avill  tell  about  Bill  when  I  see  him. 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES.  445 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

Xeics  and  Ohscrvei^s  Tenth  Anniversarij — TJie 
Paper  and  its  Editor — Capt.  E.  C.  Woodson — 
^tronacWs  Joke — ^Yoodson  on  Jim  'Joining  the 
Temperance  Society. 

I  wish  to  speak  of  The  News  and  Observer,  whose 
tenth  anniversary^,  under  its  present  management, 
is  celebrated  in  this  issue,  August  14,  1904.  It  is 
useless  to  say  that  it  is  a  great  paper  and  wields 
a  vast  influence;  its  readers — its  friends  as  well  as 
its  foes, — know  that.  Nor  need  it  be  said  that  its 
circulation  and  influence,  like  nature's  growth,  goes 
steadily  on. 

While  The  News  and  Observer  has  aspired  to  the 
highest  position  as  a  i)ublic  journal,  it  has  kept  its 
ear  close  to  the  ground  that  it  might  catch  the 
faintest  cry  of  the  oppressed..  It  has,  therefore, 
kept  very  close  to  the  laboring  classes,  and  they 
know  and  appreciate  it ;  and  it  has  been  foremost  in 
advocacy  of  all  that  will  improve  the  condition  of 
every  class,  politically,  financially  and  morally. 

It  may  have  made  mistakes,  but,  it  has  not  often 
strayed  from  the  line  of  upright  journalism.  I 
therefore,  congratulate  its  present  management, 
on  the  record  made  in  the  decade,  just  passed,  and 
invoke  upon  it  divine  guidance,  to  the  end  that  the 
next  decade  may  be  an  imiDrovement,  along  all 
lines,  upon  the  successful  work  of  the  vears  gone 
by. 

Its  editor,  Josephus  Daniels,  Esq.,  was  born  in 
Washington,  N.   C,  May  18,   1862. 

When  he  was  a  boy,  he  edited  an  amateur  paper 
called  "  The  Cornucopia,"  and  corresponded  for 
other  papers,  published  by  amateur  editors.  Be- 
fore he  was  eighteen,  he  became  local  editor  of  the 


446  ^yHITAKER's  reminiscences, 

Wilson  Advance,  and  a  jesiv  later  become  sole  edi- 
tor. At  one  time,  when  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
lie  was  part  owner  and  editor  of  a  weekly  paper  at 
Wilson,  Kinston  and  Rocky  Mount,  spending  a 
portion  of  each  week  in  each  town. 

In  October,  1885,  he  came  to  Raleigh  as  editor  of 
the  State  Chronicle,  a  weekly,  which  he  afterwards 
converted  into  a  daily.  In  August,  1894,  he  organ- 
ized a  company,  which  purchased  The  Raleigh  News 
and  Observer,  The  State  Chronicle  and  The  North 
Carolinian.  These  papers  were  consolidated,  and, 
within  ten  years,  the  circulation  of  the  Daily  News 
and  Observer  has  grown  from  about  2,000  to  10,000 
subscribers. 

As  ^^The  News  and  Observer'^  owes  its  name  to 
two  papers,  ^'The  Daily  News'^  and  ^^The  Daily 
Observer,''  I  wish  to  speak  of  an  editor  who,  at  one 
time,  was  one  of  the  most  noted  characters  in 
Raleigh,  and  one  of  the  best  known  editors  in  the 
State.  I  refer  to  Capt.  E.  C.  Woodson,  the  local 
editor  of  "The  Daily  News,"  than  whom  a  more 
poi3ular  news  gatherer  has  never  tramped  over 
this  city. 

Captain  Woodson  was  raised  in  Virginia,  I  think, 
but  came  here  from  Warren  ton,  when  "The  News'' 
was  started,  by  Stone  and  Uzzell,  as  its  city  editor, 
which  position  he  ably  filled  until  death  released 
him  from  so  hard  a  task.  Before  that  time  there 
had  not  been,  on  any  paper,  a  city  editor,  for  the 
reason  that  we  did  not  have  enough  news  afloat  to 
give  a  man  employment.  Woodson,  therefore,  was 
a  pioneer  in  the  news-gathering  business,  and,  of 
course,  he  had  to  work  up  a  column  as  best  he  could. 
But  he  was  equal  to  the  task,  and  when  there  was 
no  news  he  had  the  happy  faculty  of  running  up 
against  something,  if  it  was  falling  over  a  wheel- 
barrow in  the  dark,  which,  by  the  way,  he  did  one 
dark  night,  the  report  of  which,  the  next  morning. 


INCIDENTS   AND    ANECDOTES. 


447 


HON.  JOSEPHUS  DANIELS. 
The  Able  and  Accomplished  Editor  of  the  News  and  observer. 


448  ^yHITAKER^S    REMI^:I8CE^X'ES, 

was  quite  as  thrilling  as  if  it  had  been  a  railroad 
smashiip  or  a  CTclone. 

When  the  ^^News"  was  started  and  Ca^Dt.  E.  C. 
Woodson  was  announced  as  ''city  editor,"  our  city 
could  not  help  smiling  at  the  idea ;  for,  reconstruc- 
tion had  been  accomplished,  the  Yankees  had  gone, 
and  everything  had  gotten  so  quiet  it  was  thought 
that  news  had  played  out.  But  it  did  not  take 
long  to  show  our  people  how  much  we  had  been  mis- 
sing, before  Ave  had  a  live  city  editor.  Of  course 
the  Sentinel,  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Pell,  as  well  as  in 
the  time  of  Mr.  Turner,  had  its  local  column,  but 
the  Daily  News  which,  in  a  manner,  succeeded  the 
Sentinel,  made  a  long  stride  to  the  front  in  the  mat- 
ter of  news  gathering,  in,  around  and  about  the 
city. 

At  the  time  of  Avhich  I  am  writing  the  office  of 
the  News  was  on  the  third  floor  of  the  building 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  Woollcott.  On  the  second 
floor  were  some  law  offices,  one  of  which  was  oc- 
cupied by  Hon.  B.  F.  Moore.  The  lower  floor  was 
used  by  Mr.  George  T.  Stronach,  as  a  wholesale 
grocery. 

Woodson  and  Stronach  were  great  friends,  so 
much  so  that  they  were  much  of  the  time  together ; 
and  frequently  George  Avould  go  up  into  the  office, 
after  his  store  had  been  closed  for  the  night,  and 
spend  an  hour  or  two  with  Woodson,  who  generally 
sat  up,  taking  the  dispatches  and  preparing  copy 
until  the  paper  went  to  press,  at  any  time  between 
mid-night  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

One  night  Woodson  was  kept  later  than  usual 
in  the  office,  and  being  very  tired  and  sleepy,  he 
fell  upon  a  lounge  in  the  editorial  room  and  went 
to  sleep,  not  waking  until  next  morning,  at  a  late 
liour,  when  George  had  had  his  breakfast  and  gone 
to  his  store. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  449 

Not  seeing  Woodson  about,  George  concluded 
he  would  go  up  and  see  if  he  was  in  the  office.  Sure 
enough  he  found  him  asleep  on  the  lounge.  There 
was  a  billy  goat  that  lived  in  George's  back  lot; 
and,  to  have  a  little  fun,  George  ran  down,  shoul- 
dered the  goat  and  carried  him  up  the  two  flights 
of  stairs,  and  with  a  strong  twine  string  tied  him 
to  one  of  Woodson's  feet,  and  then  concealed  him- 
self in  the  room  to  await  the  issue. 

Soon  the  goat  jerked  against  the  string,  when 
Woodson  in  a  sort  of  dreamy  way  said :  "O,  let  me 
alone.  I'm  sleepy."  But,  the  goat  pulled  again 
and  a  little  harder,  when  Woodson  said  in  a  tone 
of  impatience:  ^'Let  me  alone,  I  tell  you;  I  don't 
care  for  any  breakfast;  I'm  sleepy."  About  then 
the  billy-goat  gave  his  foot  a  hard  jerk  that  caused 
Woodson  to  open  his  eyes  when  there  stood  before 

him  what  might  have  been  the ,  well  he 

didn't  know  what  the  thing  was;  so,  his  first  im- 
pulse was  to  get  away  from  it.  The  office  door  was 
right  at  the  head  of  the  stairway  leading  to  the 
second  floor,  and  then  right  on  down  to  the  street. 

When  he  jumped  to  run,  he  found  that  something 
had  him  by  the  foot,  and  looking  back  he  saw  that 
that  thing  with  horns  and  hoofs  was  right  at  him. 
He  plunged  down  stairs  at  such  a  rate  that  he 
jerked  the  billy-goat  pell-mell  down  against  him. 
when,  they  became  so  entangled,  they  rolled  down 
the  second  flight  of  steps  and  came  near  rolling 
over  the  Hon.  B.  F.  Moore,  who  was  just  then  going 
up  to  his  office.  George  afterwards  said  that  when 
Woodson  and  the  goat  stood  on  the  side-walk,  eye- 
ing each  other,  it  was  plain  to  be  seen  that  a  mutual 
hatred  had  taken  possession  of  them  which  could 
never  be  overcome;  while  the  remarks  Mr.  Moore 
made  about  people  who  are  always  playing  pranks 
on  other  folks,  made  him  feel  like  he  ought  to  apolo- 
29 


450  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

gize  to  all  of  them :  Woodson,  Moore,  and  the  billy- 
goat. 

I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  story;  but, 
as  George  Stronach  was  so  full  of  pranks,  I  guess 
there  was  something  like  it  happened. 

Very  few  editors  whom  I  have  known  could  sur- 
pass Capt.  Woodson,  in  making  a  local  column  at- 
tractive, while  as  a  canvasser  he  had  few  if  any 
equals.     He  was  a  man  whom  everybody  liked. 

The  Friends  of  Temperance  were  doing  business 
in  Ealeigh  about  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing, 
and  the  Captain  joined  them  and  for  a  while  he 
attended  the  meetings  of  the  Council,  and,  of 
course,  was  very  popular  with  the  members.  He 
said  he  joined  in  order  to  get  another  man — a  friend 
of  his,  whom  I  will  call  ^Jim" — to  join  with  him. 

One  rainy  day  when  everything  was  dull  on  the 
streets,  and  still  duller  in  doors,  wife  and  I  were 
seated  in  the  editorial  sanctum — (a  room  adjoin- 
ing our  residence) — reading  and  writing,  having 
no  idea  that  any  one  would  venture  out  in  such 
weather,  when  all  of  a  sudden  heavy  footsteps  were 
heard  on  the  piazza,  as  if  stamping  off  mud,  and 
then  came  a  rap  on  the  door  that  made  us  shudder, 
for  we  could  think  of  nothing  else  that  would  brave 
such  weather  but  a  ^'dun" ;  and  newspaper  men,  of 
those  days,  at  least,  will  remember,  that  a  ^^dun" 
was  the  most  unwelcome  visitor  that  an  editor  had 
to  receive.  But  we  opened  the  door  to  find,  instead 
of  a  collector.  Captain  Woodson  and  his  friend 
"Jim,"  both  of  whom  began  to  say,  as  they  entered 
the  office;  each  one  trying,  seemingly,  to  get  ahead 
of  the  other: 

"^Irs.  Whitaker,  I  brought  Jim  down  here " 

"Mrs.  Whitaker,  I  brought  Captain  Woodson 
doAvn  here : — to  get  you  to  take  his  name,"  Captain 
Woodson  said: — "to  get  you  to  take  his  name," 
Jim  said: — "to  the  Council  of  Friends  of  Temper- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  451 

ance  at  the  very  next  meeting/'  they  both  said  at 
the  same  moment.  "I  brought  ^Jim'  to  you  be- 
cause he's  beginning  to  love  his  drams  too  well," 
said  Woodson — "I  brought  Woodson  to  you  because 
he's  beginning  to  love  his  drams  too  well,"  Jim 
said  in  the  same  earnest  tone  of  voice ; — "and  I  will 
join  if  Jim  will,"  said  Woodson — "and  I  will  join  if 
Woodson  will,"  said  Jim. 

It  was  very  evident  that  both  of  them  were  em- 
barrassed, and  that  their  coming,  as  they  did,  was 
the  result  of  a  conversation,  down  town,  in  which 
one  had  bantered  the  other  to  join  the  temperance 
society;  in  fact  they  stated  as  much  before  they 
left.  Both  signed  an  application  for  membership, 
and  both  were  duly  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of 
the  Order  of  the  Friends  of  Temperance  at  the 
next  regular  meeting ;  after  which  both  made  rous- 
ing temperance  speeches,  in  which  they  pledged 
themselves  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  advance  the 
cause  of  total  abstinence. 

Woodson  went  off,  the  next  week,  to  attend  Nash 
court  in  the  interest  of  the  "News,"  and  was  not, 
therefore,  at  the  next  regular  meeting  of  the  Coun- 
cil ;  but  Jim  was  there  quite  as  zealous  as  ever,  but 
seemed  to  be  disappointed  in  not  meeting  Woodson. 
At  the  next  meeting,  however,  both  were  there, 
and  both  made  speeches.  Jim  was  inclined 
to  be  a  little  facetious  in  his  remarks,  quizzing 
Woodson  as  to  where  he  went,  and  how  he  behaved 
himself  down  in  Nash  County,  where,  it  was  known 
that  apple  brandy  was  as  plentiful  as  it  "was 
good."  "I  would  be  glad,"  said  Jim,  "if  Brother 
Woodson  would  tell  us  how  he  got  along  at  the 
Nash  court,  and  especially  whether  or  not  he  smelt, 
saw  or  tasted  any  old  Nash  brandy  while  he  was 
down  there." 

Brother  Woodson  arose  and  said :  "My  Brother 
Jim  is  in  a  joky  mood,  and,  I  suppose  he  expects 


452  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

me  to  be  as  jolly  in  my  manner,  giving  account 
of  my  recent  visit  to  Nashville ;  but  I  fear  my  talk 
will  be  a  little  disappointing,  on  account  of  its  so- 
berness. I  will  answer  positively  two  of  the  broth- 
er's inquiries,  and  say  I  neither  saw  nor  tasted  any 
apple  brandy  while  I  was  gone ;  but,  as  to  smelling, 
I  have  to  plead  guilty."  A  laugh  followed,  but 
Brother  Woodson  looked  very  solemn.  "One  even- 
ing,'' continued  Brother  Woodson,  "after  I  had 
done  a  heavy  day's  work,  canvassing  for  my  paper, 
(a  dozen  or  more  men  having  told  me  "I'll  see  you 
later," ) ,  I  saw  a  man  motioning  to  me  in  a  sort  of 
beckoning  manner.  My  heart  leaped  into  my 
throat,  for  I  felt  sure  he  was  one  of  the  "I'll  see 
you  later"  fellows,  and  I  imagined  that  I  was  right 
close  up  to  another  five  dollar  bill.  I  was  terribly 
excited  and  he  must  have  seen  it ;  for  as  I  approached 
him  he  held  up  his  hand  in  a  sort  of  warning  way 
as  if  to  quiet  me  down,  and  said  in  a  kind  of  stage 
whisper :  "Follow  me !"  Then  I  thought  I'd  struck 
a  bonanza;  that  my  friend  whom  I  was  following 
had,  somehow  or  other,  gotten  all  the  "I'll  see  you 
later"  fellows  together,  and,  in  a  second,  my  ex- 
pected five  dollars  had  grown  to  be  twenty-five  dol- 
lars— all  crisp  greenbacks.  On  my  friend  went, 
around  the  corner,  through  an  alley  and  into  the 
back  door  of  a  bed-room.  I  never  was  so  excited  in 
all  my  life.  I  had  already,  in  my  mind,  added 
twenty-five  dollars  to  my  collections,  and  was  feel- 
ing good  over  the  welcome  plaudits  that  awaited  me 
at  the  office  at  home,  when  I  counted  out  one  hun- 
dred dollars.  The  back  door  was  opened,  and  my 
friend  fell  upon  his  knees  beside  the  bed.  Then  he 
ducked  his  head  and  went  under.  "Gold,"  thought 
I.  He's  gone  under  there  after  his  old  stocking  leg 
that  contains  the  yellow  boys,  and  I  was  txwing  to 
imagine  how  I  would  feel  with  five-dollar  gold  coins 
in  my  pocket.     I  heard  a  sort  of  grating  noise  on 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  453 

the  floor  and  the  thought  flashed  u^Don  me,  he's  got 
a  box  of  specie  under  there!  He  began  to  back. 
My  heart  almost  stood  still.  Half  of  him  could  be 
seen,  and  the  grating  of  the  heavy  box  could  be 
heard  every  time  he  backed.  The  suspense  was  aw- 
ful. I  don't  think  I  could  have  stood  it  a  minute 
longer.  At  last  he  twisted  his  head  from  under  the 
bed  and  gave  me  a  wink  that  contained  a  volume  of 
meaning  as  big  as  Webster's  Dictionary,  yet  still 
keeping  his  hands  out  of  sight.  I  thought  I'd  faint; 
but,  at  last  out  came  a  three-gallon  jug  with  a  corn- 
cob stopper,  sticking  up  two  or  three  inches.  He 
grabbed  that  corn  cob,  gave  it  a  twist  and  pulled  it 
out,  saying  as  he  did  so  :  ^^There's  something  good ; 
and  you  look  like  you  need  something,  if  a  fellow 
ever  did.  Just  put  your  nose  to  the  mouth  of  that 
jug."  I  was  too  weak  to  stand,  but  sat  down  in  the 
door- way  as  he  pushed  the  jug  to  me.  I  got  a  whiff 
of  it,  and,  according  to  my  recollection,  it  was  all 
right.  The  man  reached  for  a  tumbler  on  the  table, 
and  tilting  the  jug  a  little,  the  stuff  began  to  run, 
saying,  "goodie,  goodie,  goodie !"  I  knew  the  crisis 
of  my  life  had  come.  I  shut  my  eyes  and  wouldn't 
look  at  it.  Pretending  as  if  I  heard  somebody  call 
I  said:  "Sir,  I'm  coming!"  and  broke  and  ran.  I 
didn't  see  that  man  any  more.  No,  I  neither  saw 
nor  tasted ;  but,  if  the  vows  of  this  society  had  not 
been  on  me,  I  guess  I  would  have  tested  the  quality 
of  the  contents  of  that  jug." 

Jim  listened  to  Woodson's  story,  hanging  his 
head  when  he  said :  "If  the  vows  of  this  society  had 
not  been  upon  me,"  which  fact  many  noticed. 

A  few  days  thereafter  Woodson  and  Jim  were 
talking  over  the  matter,  when  Woodson  affirmed 
that  he  had  not  drank  a  drop  of  anything  that  had 
intoxicating  liquor  in  it,  but  confessed  that  he  had 
been  greatly  tempted  at  times.  Jim  said  he  was 
getting  along  all  right — didn't  drink  and  didn't 


454  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

Avant  to  drink.  In  fact  he  had  completely  weaned 
ofe. 

"I  wish  I  felt  as  strong  and  confident/'  said 
Woodson. 

"You  can,  if  you'll  do  as  I  did,"  replied  Jim. 

"How  did  you  do?"  asked  Woodson. 

"Why,  as  soon  as  I  joined  the  society  I  bought  me 
a  case  of  Plantation  Bitters,  and  commenced  taking 
them.  A  bottle  of  them  a  day  satisfies  me ;  in  fact, 
I  like  the  bitters  about  as  well  as  I  did  whiskey." 

I  don't  think  Jim  ever  attended  another  meeting 
of  the  Council.  The  Plantation  Bitters  soon 
throwed  him,  and  he  was  expelled. 

Yes,  Captain  Woodson  was  the  pioneer  "city 
editor,"  and  while  the  'Neics  could  not  boast  of  its 
many  columns  of  items,  it  certainly  could  boast  of 
the  fact  that  it  jpublished  all  the  news  that  could 
be  collected  or  manufactured. 


CHAPTEK  LVIII. 

Fhilip  S.  White  and  Temperance — Comments  on 
Various  Things — The  Gobbler  that  Sat  on 
Cymlins. 

Philip  S.  White,  a  Northern  gentleman,  who  can- 
vassed this  State  in  the  fifties  in  the  interest  of  the 
temperance  cause,  was  noted  at  that  time  as  being 
the  most  eloquent  as  well  as  the  strongest  temper- 
ance speaker  our  people  had  ever  heard,  and  did  a 
work  that  perhaps  no  other  could  have  done.  I  did 
not  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and  hearing  him,  as 
I  happened  to  be  teaching  school  in  a  portion  of  the 
State  he  did  not  visit.  I  always  regretted  it,  for 
those  who  sat  under  the  spell  of  his  vigorous  ora- 
tory and  witnessed  the  ease  with  which  he  could 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  455 

sway  a  multitude,  often  reminded  me  of  the  loss  I 
had  sustained.  I  heard,  of  course,  of  his  many  an- 
ecdotes, and  of  the  fine  arguments  which  they  were 
made  to  illustrate,  and  did  not  wonder  that  his 
fame  was  so  great  as  a  speaker.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  advertised  to  speak  in  an  eastern  county  where 
the  people  were  very  much  opposed  to  temperance, 
and  Mr.  Gorman,  the  editor  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Age, 
who  was  to  go  with  Mr.  White  to  that  appointment, 
had  been  notified  not  to  come;  in  fact,  had  been 
warned  that  if  he  did  go,  and  carry  that  ^^fellow 
White''  with  him,  there  would  be  trouble,  and  a 
sight  of  it,  for  the  people  of  that  community  were 
determined  that  their  liberties  should  not  be  tam- 
pered with,  and  so  forth. 

The  day  arrived,  and  the  speakers,  not  at  all  in- 
timidated by  the  threats  that  had  been  made,  were 
there  on  good  time.  A  great  crowd  had  already 
assembled,  and,  it  being  cold  weather,  they  had 
built  log  fires,  and  with  guns  and  canes  in  their 
hands,  the  very  much  excited  crowd  had  formed  a 
line  of  battle  and  stood  ready  to  charge  on  the  first 
approach  of  the  enemy.  In  addition  to  other  ar- 
rangements that  had  been  made,  a  barrel  of  cider 
stood  on  its  head,  on  an  improvised  platform,  and 
around  the  barrel,  as  the  hoops  ran,  was  written  in 
large  letters,  with  pokeberry  juice:  ^^Blood  will  be 
spilt  here  to-day." 

Mr.  Gorman  was  a  small  man  in  stature,  but  as 
fearless  as  if  he  had  been  a  giant,  while  Mr.  White 
had  size  as  well  as  fearlessness ;  so,  the  two  rode  up, 
unhitched  their  team,  and  very  deliberately  Avalked 
to  the  nearest  fire,  saying  as  they  approached: 
"Good  morning,  gentlemen;  it  was  so  kind  of  you 
to  have  these  good  fires  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  people.'' 

A  fellow  who  spoke  from  underneath  a  broad- 
brimmed  hat,  and  in  language  neither  elegant  nor 


456  WHITAKER'S    REMINISCENCES, 

in  conformity  with  Sunday  school  teaching,  said 
with  emphasis:    "These  fires  weren't  made  for  no 

such  fellows  as  you  be,  you;  and  that 

ain't  all :  you  fellows  ain't  a-gwine  to  do  no  speak- 
ing on  this  ground  to-day." 

After  warming  themselves  thoroughly,  Mr. 
White,  in  a  tone  of  voice  loud  enough  to  be  heard 
at  all  the  log  fires,  said :  "Gentlemen,  I  am  to  speak 
in  that  church  this  morning,  and  it's  about  time  to 
begin.  All  of  you  come  right  in!"  And  he  and 
Mr.  Gorman  started  in  the  direction  of  the  church. 
As  they  did  so,  one  man  said  loud  enough  to  be 
heard  hj  all,  "I'll  be  drot  if  I  don't  believe  them 
men  would  fight" ;  and,  one  after  another,  they  fol- 
lowed the  speakers  until  all  that  hostile  crowd, 
that  had  come  there  to  shed  blood,  was  seated  in 
the  church,  and  listening  to  the  eloquence  of  the 
great  speaker.  It  was  not  long  before  men  began 
to  applaud ;  and,  before  the  speaker  had  spent  half 
an  hour,  the  neighbors,  who  came  over  to  see  how 
the  fight  had  gone,  filled  the  house,  and  enthusiasm 
was  running  mountain  high.  The  result  was,  a 
Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  was  organized 
there,  and  to-day  no  section  of  North  Carolina  has 
a  better  temperance  sentiment  than  that. 

I  stop  here  to  make  the  remark  that  our  counci'v 
never  had  better  work  done  in  it  for  the  temperance 
cause  than  that  which  was  done  by  the  Sons  of  Tem- 
perance, Friends  of  Temperance,  and  Good  Temp- 
lars. A  great  many  people  did  not  regard  temper- 
ance societies  of  sufficient  importance  to  claim  their 
support;  but,  time  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
the  seeds  sown  by  those  societies  were  not  lost; 
on  the  contrar}',  wherever  they  were  sown  may  be 
found  to-day  a  good  temi3erance  sentiment  in  that 
community.  The  time  has  gone  by  when  Christians 
can  afford  to  be  identified  in  any  way  with  a  traffic 
that  has  nothing  good  in  it,  but  is  wholly  bad,  not 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  457 

only  for  the  individual,  but  for  church  and  State  as 
well.  In  the  days  of  our  grandfathers,  when  this 
country  was  comparatively  new,  the  making  of 
brandy  was  considered  to  be  a  part  of  a  man's  crop, 
and  the  drinking  of  it  a  matter  of  course,  because, 
it  was  made  to  drink.  The  sideboard  and  decanter 
ranked  high  up  in  the  estimation  of  all  classes  of 
people,  and  even  the  minister  of  the  gospel  i^atron- 
ized  them,  smacked  his  liiDs  and  praised  the  skill 
of  the  host,  who  knew  so  well  how  to  mix  the  peach 
and  honey.  The  result  of  it  was,  our  fathers  were 
raised  up  moderate  drinkers ;  and  so,  the  generation 
of  the  nineteenth  century  had  to  fight  against  and 
overcome  a  habit  and  a  thirst  for  drink  which  had 
been  transmitted  from  grandfather  to  grandson. 
During  the  latter  half  of  the  century  just  closed,  a 
vigorous  fight  was  made  to  win  the  iDeople  to  the 
doctrine  of  total  abstinence,  and  for  that  purpose 
temperance  societies  were  organized  and  the  young 
people,  who  had  not  yet  formed  the  habit  of  moder- 
ate drinking,  were  specially  sought  after  and  en- 
couraged to  join  these  societies,  because,  while  it 
was  and  is  almost  impossible  to  reform  a  drunkard 
or  even  a  moderate  drinker,  it  was,  and  is,  an  easy 
matter,  comparatively,  to  prevent  the  young,  by 
throwing  around  them  the  restraints  of  a  pledge 
and  the  associations  of  a  lodge,  from  becoming 
drunkards.     In  other  words,  it  is  easier  to  form 

than  to  reform. 

******* 

Not  a  few  people  professed  religion  after  that  star 
falling;  but,  I  am  not  able  to  tell  the  reader  how 
many  of  them  held  out  after  the  scare  wore  off. 
Get  a  fellow  in  a  tight  place  and  he'll  promise  lib- 
erally ;  but  he  don't  always  keep  his  promises,  when 
the  danger,  or  supposed  danger,  is  passed. 

Many  a  fellow,  with  a  bad  case  of  typhoid  fever, 
has  made  very  solemn  promises  he  didn't  remember, 


458 

much  less  keep,  after  he  got  well.  Star-falling, 
earthquake,  or  typhoid  fever  religion  is  not,  gener- 
ally speaking,  of  the  lasting  kind.  But,  I  guess 
its  better  to  scare  some  people,  or  they  may  never 
get  any  religion  of  any  kind.  And  the  most  unrea- 
sonable man  in  the  world  must  admit  that  a  fellow 
had  better  go  to  heaven  scared,  than  not  to  get  there 
at  all. 

*  *  -Sfr  *  *  *  * 

I  heard  a  man  the  other  day  talking  in  a  very  con- 
sequential way  of  "broad-minded''  and  "narrow- 
minded''  people;  and  I  had  the  curiosity  to  listen, 
as  I  was  anxious  to  find  out  what  he  meant.  I 
learned  this :  that  a  broad-minded  man  is  one  who 
does  not  accept  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God,  and 
the  narrow-minded  man  is  one  who  does. 

He  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  rather  his  son 
should  have  no  education  than  for  him  to  be  edu- 
cated at  a  sectarian  school.  He  harped  upon  "lib- 
erality," and  I  learned  that  what  he  called  liberal- 
icy  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  infidelity. 

The  Greeks  were  a  very  wise  people,  and  very  lib- 
eral in  their  religious  views.  They  had  a  plurality 
of  gods,  and,  I  suppose,  each  person  worshipped  the 
god  he  liked  best.  When  Paul  went  to  Athens  he 
found  that  "all  the  Athenians  and  strangers  which 
were  there,  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else,  but 
either  to  tell  or  hear  something  new." 

And  when  he  stood  in  the  midst  of  Mars  Hill  he 
said:  "Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all 
things  ye  are  too  superstitious.  For  as  I  passed  by 
and  beheld  your  devotions,  I  found  an  altar  with 
this  inscription,  "To  the  TJnknoion  God.'' 

Paul's  meaning  was,  I  perceive  you  are  very  re- 
ligious; you  worship  all  the  gods  of  which  you 
have  any  knowledge,  and  lest  there  may  be  some 
other  god  not  included  in  your  calendar,  you  have 
an  inscription  "to  the  unknown  god." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  159 

There  is  danger  of  our  becoming  like  the  idola- 
trous heathens,  who  ''spend  their  time  in  nothing 
else  but  either  to  tell  or  hear  something  new."  We 
don't  like  the  idea  of  being  tied  down  to  old-time 
doctrines,  taught  at  Sinai  and  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount ;  but  we  love  to  tell  and  hear  something  new 
all  the  time.  We  have  itching  ears  and  they  must 
have  something  that  borders  on  the  unheard  of  and 
marvelous. 

Advanced  thinkers  who  have  well  studied  human 
nature,  and  thoroughly  understand  that  the  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  are  undermining  the 
world's  faith  in  the  Bible,  as  a  true  revelation  of 
God,  and  of  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ;  and  are  substi- 
tuting therefor  the  same  kind  of  wisdom  the  Greeks 
had,  when,  in  their  liberality,  they  believed  in  all 
the  gods  that  were  made  by  men,  and  only  had  a 
vague  idea  of  the  unknown  or  true  God.  I  am 
afraid  that  the  so-called  broad-gauged  education 
which  some  fathers  are  choosing  for  their  sons,  will 
turn  out  to  be  their  ruin.  Scientists  and  advanced 
thinkers,  it  is  suspected,  depend  more  on  their  own 
learning  than  they  do  on  the  illumination  of  tlie 
Holy  Ghost,  whose  office  it  is,  in  answer  to  prayer, 
to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them  unto 
us.  Whenever  I  hear  a  man  talking  of  liberality 
and  broad-guageism,!  take  it  for  granted  he  is  drift- 
ing into  Polytheism,  and  will,  ere  he  knows  it,  lose 
faith  in  God,  and  find  himself  in  the  condition  of 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  who  worshipped  everything 

but  God. 

******* 

Bv  the  way,  speaking  of  the  Egyptian^,  I  guess 
I  had  as  well  tell  the  children,  who  may  read  this 
article,  why  they  worshipped  animals. 

There  is  a  tradition  among  them  that,  at  some 
far-distant  period  in  the  past,  men  rebelled  against 
the  gods,  and  drove  them  out  of  heaven.     They  tell 


460  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

us  that  the  gods,  when  driven  f^o^  heaven,  fled  into 
Egypt  and  concealed 'tlremsel^  under  the  form  of 
different  animals.  Hence,  every  animalM^^  T^or- 
shipped  from  the  great  ox  to  the  little  mouse,  and 
from  the  crocodile,  down  to  the  snake,  the  frog 
a.nd  the  tadpole. 

Thev  made  a  god  of  the  ox  because  he  helped  to 
till  the  ground,  of  the  dog  because  he  defended  the 
home;  of  the  sheep  because  he  supplied  them  with 
wool  for  clothing;  of  the  crocodile  because  he  pre- 
vented the  Arabs  from  making  incursions;  of  the 
ichneumon  because  it  destroyed  the  crocodile.  The 
ichneumon  was  a  little  animal  that  would  eat  the 
crocodile's  eggs;  and  when  the  crocodile  would  lie 
down  to  sleep  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Nile,  with 
mouth  open,  this  little  animal  would  jump  out  of 
the  mud,  and  leaping  down  the  crocodile's  throat, 
and  forcing  its  way  down  into  his  entrails,  would 
gnaw  away  until  he  reached  the  stomach  of  that 
great  amphibious  creature,  and  thus  put  him  to 
death. 

My  children  readers  may  think  it  very  strange 
that  the  Egyptians  worshipped  the  crocodile  and 
then  worshipped  the  little  animal  that  ate  out  the 
very  vitals  of  the  crocodile. 

And  it  was  strange.  But  we  must  remember  the 
Egyptians  were  heathens,  and  perhaps  did  not  know 
any  better.  How  much  better  are  we,  dear  chil- 
dren, when  we  pretend  to  worship  God  and  yet, 
at  the  same  time,  worship  the  things  of  this 
world  which  destroy  all  that  is  Grod-like  in  us.  I 
fear  that  God  sees  in  many  of  us  just  as  gross  idol- 
ators  as  the  Egyptians  were;  and  what  makes  us 
worse  sinners  than  they  were,  we  know  better. 

I  observe  that  we  have  a  few  young  women  who 
worship  dogs;  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  some  of 
them  don't  keep  their  dogs  in  good  trim.  I  don't 
mind  ridinjr  on  the  street  cars  with  a  do<i:  that's  well 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  461 

groomed  (I  suppose  that's  the  right  word)  ;  but  I 
do  feel  humiliated  when  a  poodle  or  a  pug  is 
brought  on  board  that  looks  as  if  it  slept  among  the 
pots  and  kettles,  and  has  to  spend  all  the  time  of  its 
riding,  scratching  off  fleas.  I've  come  to  this  con- 
clusion, that  a  man  had  better  live  a  bachelor,  sew 
on  his  own  buttons,  darn  his  own  socks,  and  do  his 
own  cooking  rather  than  marry  a  girl  who  worships 
a  dog,  and  yet  is  too  lazy  to  wash  and  comb  her 
idol.  A  very  learned  writer  on  idol  worship  says : 
''One's  character  will,  more  or  less,  be  like  the  god 
he  worships.'' 

I  don't  blame  old  maids  so  much  for  worshipping 
cats,  for  the  reason  that  cats  are  preferable  to  rats, 
every  time,  and  a  good  cat  will  not  only  earn  his 
own  living,  but  be  a  saving  in  keeping  the  rats  out 
of  the  pantry,  and  the  smoke-house.  But  I  can't 
become  reconciled  to  seeing  a  pretty  girl  going  down 
street  in  company  with  a  dog;  and  a  smutty  dog 

at  that. 

******* 

I  heard  a  strange  story  a  few  weeks  ago.  It  was, 
that  a  cat,  with  three  or  four  young  kittens,  had 
added  to  her  family  two  young  rabbits;  and  the 
.question,  with  the  gentleman  who  told  me  about  the 
matter,  was :  "Did  the  cat  find  two  motherless  rab- 
bits and,  out  of  sympathy,  adopt  them  as  her  chil- 
dren; or,  did  she  bring  them  in  to  fatten  them,  to 
have  them  on  hand  when  some  of  the  kinf  oiks  should 
come  to  see  her?"  It  would  be  a  strange  affair,  in- 
deed, if  the  families  of  "Old  Tom  Cat"  and  "Old 
Br'er  Eabbit"  entered  into  social  relations  and 
dwelt  together  in  unity.  But,  since  the  gold  bugs 
and  the  silver  bugs  have  come  to  terms,  and,  like 
the  lion  and  the  lamb,  are  lying  down  together,  and 
Cleveland  and  Bryan,  Hill  and  Tillman,  and  all 
their  friends,  are  agreeing  to  live  in  harmony,  I 
can't  see  why  cats  and  rabbits  may  not  be  friends. 


462  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

I  don't  think  the  cats  are  in  any  danger,  as  rabbits 
are  not  carnivorous  animals;  but  the  rabbits  may 
suffer  after  awhile,  for  it  is  well  known  that  under- 
neath a  yelvet  pad  the  cat  has  fearful  claws.  I 
don't  know  how  it  will  be  in  the  wind-up,  with  the 
gold  bugs  and  the  silverites.  They  may  not  scratch 
and  bite  each  other,  but,  as  both  have  good  swal- 
lows and  large  capacities,  they  may  swallow  each 
other,  and  the  outcome  may  be  like  Corinthian 
brass — a  combination  of  all  the  metals,  which  can't 
be  improved  upon  nor  imitated. 

A  thing  happened  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago  that 
raised  a  question,  which  I  will  state,  and  then  turn 
it  over  to  the  scientists.  The  foxes  and  the  owls 
destroyed  all  my  father's  turkeys  except  one  old 
gobbler.  He  was  (I  mean  the  gobbler)  a  forlorn, 
chickless  widower,  and,  to  him,  it  was  very  clear 
that  the  race  of  turkeys  would  be  extinct  when 
Christmas  came,  and  his  head  was  chopped  off.  I 
don't  know  how  long  he  studied  the  matter  over, 
nor  how  he  arrived  at  a  conclusion ;  but,  this  he  did : 
Going  out  back  of  the  garden  he  made  him  a  nest, 
in  a  corner  of  the  fence,  rolled  into  it  a  half  dozen 
dry  cymlins,  about  the  size  of  goose  eggs,  and,  with 
all  the  dignity  of  a  turkey  hen,  he  went  to  setting.. 
We  did  not  know  how  long  he'd  been  setting  when 
he  was  found  on  the  nest;  but,  it  was  true  that  it 
was  difficult  to  break  him  up.  The  question  is,  if 
he  had  hatched  those  cymlins,  what  would  have 
been  the  outcome?  Scientists  will  please  take  the 
case.  The  story  itself  is  true — the  gobbler  did 
make  a  nest,  and  when  found  he  was  setting  on  a 
half  dozen  small  while  cymlins.  I  have  yet  to  hear 
of  a  gobbler  that  beat  our  gobbler. 


INCIDENTS  AND  ANECDOTES.  463 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

Bave  Leivis  as  a  LaugJiist — The  Pig  George  Stron- 
ach  Gave  Him — Mr,  Peck's  Ducks — Boxing  up 
a  Felloio  Who  Got  Drunk — Forgetfulness — My 
Old  Friend,  Dr.  Bailey. 

In  one  of  my  sketches,  I  had  something  to  say  of 
a  prank  that  George  T.  Stronach  played  on  Captain 
Woodson.  I  do  not  know  that  I  could  better  enter- 
tain the  Raleigh  reader,  who  so  pleasantly  remem- 
bers George  Stronach,  than  by  relating  some  of  the 
things  that  he,  for  the  sake  of  fun,  said  and  did. 
Hardly  a  day  passed  by  that  he  did  not  bring  to 
light  something,  new  and  fresh,  originating  with 
him,  and  it  was  always  something  harmless,  but 
laughable. 

He  sat  about  his  store  door  with  his  legs  twisted 
around  each  other  in  the  most  undignified  boyish 
manner ;  saw  and  heard  everything  that  passed,  and 
kept  fully  abreast  of  the  latest  news,  both  in  city 
and  country.  He  knew  everybody,  and  everybody 
knew  and  liked  him.  In  fact,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  popular  men  of  his  day  and  time  in  the  county. 

Dave  Lewis,  who  lived  out  in  the  Auburn  sec- 
tion, was  very  fond  of  George,  and  George  was 
equally  as  fond  of  Dave;  but,  he  would  play  all 
kinds  of  pranks  on  him,  just  to  hear  Dave  laugh. 
George  said  he  could  tell  when  Dave  was  in  town, 
whether  he  saw  him  or  not.  If  he  was  somewhere 
within  a  block  or  two  of  his  store,  George  said  he 
could  hear  him  laugh ;  and,  if  farther  away  than  a 
block  or  two,  he  could  feel  the  earth  tremble  whether 
he  heard  Dave  laugh  or  not.  I  think  George  must 
have  been  mistaken  about  Dave's  shaking  the  whole 
town ;  but,  I  frequently  heard  him  laugh  in  George's 


464  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

store  when  he  would  shake  it  so  that  the  tinware 
would  rattle. 

One  day  Mr.  William  Boylan,  who  was  as  fond  of 
a  joke  as  George  ever  was,  sent  a  hound  dog  to 
George,  tied  up  in  a  bag,  with  a  note  accompanying 
saying:  ^Tlease  accept  the  enclosed  as  a  token  of 
my  sincerest  regards.''  Dave  happening  to  come 
in,  just  then,  George  asked  him  how  he'd  like  to  have 
a  pig.  "All  right,"  said  he.  George  told  him  to 
come  by,  when  starting  home,  and  he  could  have 
bag?  pig  aiid  all. 

George  said  about  3  p.  m.,  Dave  drove  up  to  his 
door  on  a  dray,  got  the  bag  and  put  it  on  the  dray, 
and  hoisting  an  umbrella  to  keep  the  sun  from  shin- 
ing on  him  and  the  pig  in  the  bag,  drove  to  the  de- 
pot. Dave  told  the  balance  of  the  story,  a  few  days 
after,  to  a  crowd  which  gathered  about  him. 

"I  carried  that  bag  on  the  train  to  Auburn,  and 
toted  it  from  there  home  on  my  shoulder.  I  went 
to  work  and  built  a  pen  about  ten  rails  high,  put  a 
trough  in  the  pen,  and  had  it  filled  with  slops  for 
the  pig,  so  he'd  have  nothing  to  do  but  go  right  to 
groAving  and  fattening.  Then  I  untied  the  bag  and 
reached  way  over  so  I  would  not  hurt  my  pig.  I 
gave  the  bag  a  shake,  and  out  came  as  mean  a  look- 
ing hound  dog  as  I  ever  saw.  He  didn't  more  than 
hit  the  ground  before  over  the  fence  he  went,  and 
struck  right  out  for  Raleigh." 

George,  at  one  time,  made  quite  a  business  of  rais- 
ing improved  fowls,  and  bragged  very  much  upon 
some  fine  ducks  he  had.  Mr.  Lewis  Peck  took  a 
great  fancy  to  those  ducks,  and  said  he  would  like 
to  buy  a  setting  of  eggs;  but  George  told  hvn  he 
would  give  him  a  setting,  as  soon  as  he  had  them. 
Not  many  days  after  they  met  in  the  market,  when 
George  said :  ''Mr.  Peck,  those  eggs  are  ready  for 
you  whenever  you  will  come  or  send  for  them.     I 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  465 

can- 1  let  you  have  but  half  a  dozen ;  later  on  I  may 
be  able  to  give  you  more." 

Of  course  Mr.  Peck  went  at  once  for  the  eggs, 
and  in  a  day  or  two  a  hen  was  hovering  over  them. 
In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the^^  met  in  the  market 
one  morning,  when  Mr.  Peck  remarked:  ^'George, 
my  eggs  have  hatched." 

''How  do  you  like  the  looks  of  your  ducks?"  asked 
George. 

'"They  are  the  queerest  looking  ducks  I  ever  saw," 
Mr.  Peck  answered.  ''They  are  not  even  Aveb- 
footed." 

"They  eat  all  right,  I  suppose?"  said  George. 

"Yes,  they  eat  enough ;  but,  they  throw  up  every- 
thing they  eat,"  Mr.  Peck  explained. 

"I'll  bet  a  dollar  they  are  buzzards,"  said  a  by- 
stander, and  sure  enough  they  were.  By  that  time 
George  was  turning  the  corner,  hurrying  off  to  his 
breakfast.  Mr.  Peck  was  mad  enough  to  do  some- 
thing violent,  so  he  went  straight  home  and  killed 
his  young  buzzards,  but  it  was  a  long  time  before 
people  stopped  enquiring  how  he  was  getting  on 
raising  ducks. 

The  roughest  joke  I  ever  heard  of  him  practicing 
on  any  one  was  on  a  fellow^  who  was  in  the  habit  of 
coming  to  Ealeigh,  from  up  about  Merry  Oaks,  and 
getting  drunk.  George  told  him  one  day  that  the 
next  time  he  came  to  Raleigh  and  got  drunk  he  in- 
tended to  sow  him  up  in  a  sack,  and  ship  him  home 
to  his  father.  One  day,  some  time  after  that  threat, 
the  fellow  came  in  and  went  to  George's  store,  and 
laughingly  said  to  George :  "If  I  get  drunk  to-day, 
box  me  up  and  ship  me."     "I'll  do  it,"  said  George. 

Along  in  the  evening,   so   the  story  was    told, 

George  was  informed  that  his  man  was  drunk.     He 

hastily  procured  a  dry  goods'  box,  lifted  the  fellow 

in,  nailed  on  the  top,  leaving  an  air  hole;  directed 

30 


466  WHITAKER'S   REMINISCE^X^ES, 

the  box  to  the  fellow's  father,  and  put  the  box  in 
the  baggage  car,  with  instructions  to  handle  care- 
fully, just  as  the  train  was  leaving.  The  fellow 
began  to  sweat  out  his  liquor  pretty  soon  after  being 
boxed,  and,  before  he  got  to  Gary,  he  became  con- 
scious of  his  situation ;  but,  on  account  of  the  noise 
made  by  the  train  his  smothered  cries  were  not 
heard  until  the  train  halted.  Then  he  bellowed 
for  all  he  was  worth,  until  he  was  set  at  liberty.  He 
said,  after  he  got  out,  he  thought  he  was  in  a  coffin, 
sure  enough,  and  was  being  buried  alive,  the  rumb- 
ling of  the  train  sounding  just  like  clods  falling  on 
his  coffin. 

There  never  lived  in  Ealeigh  a  bigger-hearted 
man  than  George  Stronach.  He  had  no  grudge  or 
ill-will  against  any  one;  on  the  contrary,  he  was 
kind  to  everybody,  and  did  as  much  for  people,  es- 
pecially poor  people,  as  any  other  did.  But,  he 
would  have  his  fun,  and  tried  to  make  the  world 
happy  about  him. 

******* 

I  don't  know  why  I  can  not  remember  people's 
names  nowadays.  I  used  to  be  able  to  call  a  man's 
name  wherever  or  whenever  I  met  him.  But  now 
I  frequently  undertake  to  introduce  people,  with 
whom  I  am  well  acquainted,  and  can't  do  it  because 
I  can't  call  their  names.  I  rode  with  a  Kaleigh  gen- 
tleman, a  neighbor  of  mine,  from  Goldsboro  to  Ral- 
eigh, not  long  since,  and  I  tried  all  the  way  to  think 
of  his  name,  but  to  save  my  life  I  could  not  do  it. 
Not  until  I  stepped  off  the  car  under  the  shed  and 
somebody  called  his  name,  could  I  have  told  any 
one  who  he  was. 

I  heard  of  a  celebrated  Baptist  preacher  who  for- 
got his  own  name.  Being  away  from  home,  he 
called  at  a  post-office  for  his  mail,  but  could  not 
tell  the  postmaster  his  name.  As  he  turned  to  go 
out,  an  acquaintance  met  him  and  called  his  name, 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  467 

whereupon  lie  turned  about,  called  for  and  received 
his  letters. 

I  hear  other  people  complaining  of  the  same  diffi- 
culty, which  fact  serves  somewhat  to  reconcile  me 
to  my  misfortune. 

Absent-mindedness  takes  on  different  forms;  or, 
rather,  affects  people  in  different  ways.  For  in- 
stance, I  knew  a  man  who,  it  was  said,  would  forget 
to  take  off  his  soiled  underclothes  when  he  went  to 
put  on  clean  linen;  and,  if  his  wife  did  not  keep 
watch  on  him,  he  Avould  wear  a  half  dozen  shirts  at 
a  time.  He  nearly  always  had  a  pocket  full  of  nap- 
kins, and  not  unfrequently  forgot  his  errand,  when 
he  went  to  market  after  meat  for  his  dinner,  and 
would  go  home  and  ask  his  wife  if  it  was  a  spool  of 
cotton  or  a  paper  of  needles  she  wanted. 

The  fellow  who  started  to  see  his  sweetheart,  by 
appointment,  but  went  and  drove  up  the  cows,  did 
not  discover  his  mistake  until  an  hour  or  two  later, 
when  his  girl,  seated  on  a  buggy  with  another  fel- 
low, went  by,  and  asked  him  "if  he  or  his  mother 
did  the  milking ;  and,  supposing  he  had  an  engage- 
ment with  a  girl,  could  he  not  keep  it  without  get- 
ting leave  of  his  mother?'' 

The  most  absent-minded  people  are  those  who 
make  the  most  promises,  as  a  general  rule ;  and,  they 
make  promises  because  they  are  absent-minded.  I 
liked  to  have  gotten  into  a  scrape  some  years  ago  by 
making  too  many  promises,  and  my  absent-minded- 
ness caused  me  to  make  them.  A  lady  in  Youngs- 
ville  said  to  me,  as  I  was  leaving  the  church:  "I 
shall  expect  you  to  dine  with  me  to-morrow.''  I  told 
her  I  would.  As  I  reached  the  door,  I  found  another 
lady,  standing  there,  who  said,  in  a  sort  of  complain- 
ino;  wav :  "Doctor,  vou  have  never  been  to  mv  house 
to  take  a  meal,  and  I  want  you  to  take  dinner  with 
me  to-morrow."  I  told  her  I  would.  I  remembered 
that  last  promise,  but  forgot  the  first.     Next  morn- 


468  whitaker's  remixiscexces, 

ing,  just  before  twelve,  a  gentleman  remarked  to 
me:  "If  jou  are  going  to  dine  with  Mrs.  B.,  you 
had  better  go  on,  as  her  dinner  hour  is  12  o'clock." 
I  then  remembered  I  had  promised  to  dine  at  two 
places: — with  Mrs.  H.  as  well  as  Mrs.  B.  I  went 
at  once  to  Mrs.  B.'s,  with  the  intention  of  explain- 
ing and  apologizing.  But,  she  said  her  dinner  was 
ready,  and  she  did  not  propose  to  release  me  from 
my  engagement.  So  I  could  not  do  otherwise  than 
partake  of  her  good  dinner.  As  soon  as  I  well  could 
do  so,  after  eating,  I  made  haste  to  Mrs.  H's.  It 
was  then  nearly  one  o'clock;  but,  Mr.  H.  had  not 
come  from  the  store.  Mrs.  H.  rather  apologized  for 
his  not  being  there,  and  hoped  I  would  not  grow 
impatient ;  he  would  come  in  a  few  minutes.  I  told 
her  I  was  not,  by  any  means,  in  a  hurry  for  dinner — 
did  not  care,  in  fact,  if  Mr.  H.  did  not  come  in  an 
hour.  I  had  rather  talk  to  her  awhile,  anyhow,  be- 
fore eating. 

But,  it  was  not  long  before  Mr.  H.  came,  and 
dinner  was  quickly  announced.  Mrs.  H.  had  sub- 
stantially the  same  dinner  I  had  just  before  been 
a  partaker  of  at  Mrs.  B's.,  and  it  was  good.  Not 
knowing  that  I  had  been  to  dinner,  she  helped  me 
bountifully — in  fact,  gave  me  a  hungry  man's  por- 
tion. I  inwardly  groaned  when  I  saw  her  piling 
the  good  things  on  my  plate,  and  wondered  hoAV  I 
should  ever  get  through  the  ordeal  alive.  She  saw 
I  was  not  relishing  my  dinner,  as  I  ought  to  have 
done,  and  several  times  remarked  that  she  feared 
her  dinner  did  not  suit  me.  I  assured  her  that  I 
was  exceedingly  fond  of  everything  on  the  table; 
but,  still  I  could  not  eat  as  she  thought  I  should. 
After  the  dinner  was  over,  I  told  Mrs.  H.,  and  the 
company  at  the  table,  the  story  of  my  absent-mind- 
edness, and  explained  to  them  how  I  tried  to  eat  my 
way  out  of  a  diflaculty.  Mrs.  H.  was  very  much 
amused,  saying :  "I  thought  you  were  very  quiet  and 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  469 

patient  for  a  hungry  man.  When  I  told  you  Mr.  H. 
had  not  come,  I  noticed  how  readily  you  remarked, 
that  you  were  in  no  hurry  for  dinner.  And  I  won- 
dered all  through  the  dinner  how  a  man  who  lives 
as  actiye  a  life  as  you  do  should  eat  so  little  and 
with,  seemingly,  so  little  relish." 

Thus  the  matter  was  amicably  settled,  and,  since 
then,  whatever  else  I've  forgotten,  I've  tried  to  keep 
in  mind  my  promises  to  dine.  A  fellow  can  safely 
attend  these  SAvell  receptions,  where  light  refresh- 
ments are  served,  every  hour  in  the  day,  and  always 
feel  like  eating;  but  try  it,  who  will,  it's  a  right 
serious  matter  to  eat  two  big  dinners  in  an  hour, 
such  as  Mrs.  B.  and  Mrs.  H.  had  prepared  that  day. 

I  close  this  chapter  with  a  story  over  which  many 
who  are  dead  and  gone,  used  to  laugh  heartily.  It 
is  about  Dr.  C.  T.  Bailey,  my  personal  friend,  who 
was  fond  of  a  good  joke,  whether  on  himself,  or  the 
other  man.  This  is  the  one  we  had  on  him,  which 
he  enjoyed  as  much  as  any  of  us. 

Dr.  Pritchard  was  called  to  preach  out  in  the 
country  one  Sunday,  and  requested  Dr.  Bailey  to  fill 
his  pulpit  in  the  First  Baptist  church  at  the  11 
o'clock  hour.  Knowing  how  prompt  Dr.  Pritchard 
was  in  commencing  services  exactly  on  the  minute. 
Dr.  Bailey  went  around  to  the  church  while  the 
Sunday  school  was  going  on,  and  entering  the  study, 
in  rear  of  the  puli)it,  sat  down  to  collect  his 
thoughts  and  get  his  sermon  in  shape.  It  was  in  the 
spring  time  when  bees  were  humming,  and  birds 
were  singing,  and  blossoms  were  sending  forth  their 
sweetest  perfumes,  and  the  gentle  breezes,  laden 
with  drowziness,  were  floating  in  just  right  to  make 
one  feel  good.  Dr.  Bailey  thought  awhile,  and 
then  a  dreamy  feeling  came  over  him,  and  then — 
yes,  he  was  sound  asleep.  All  at  once,  the  great 
bell,  overhead,  began  to  ring,  and  the  Doctor  about 
half  awake,  caught  up  his  notes  and  rushed  out  on 


470  whitaker's  reminiscences 


the  platform  just  as  the  bell  ceased  ringing.  He 
noticed  that  but  fcAv  persons  were  present;  but,  he 
attributed  it  to  the  fact  that  the  regular  pastor 
was  absent,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duty.  He  read  his  Scripture,  and  an- 
nounced a  hymn;  but,  no  one  raised  the  tune;  so  he 
called  the  half  dozen,  who  were  present,  to  prayer ; 
arose  and  announced  another  hymn ;  but,  as  no  one 
sang,  he  read  his  text  and  preached  about  fifteen 
minutes,  then  prayed  a  short  prayer  and  gave  out 
the  long-metre  doxology.  A  brother  over  on  one 
side  of  the  house  started  ^^Old  Hundred,"  while  a 
sister  did  her  level  best  with  "Sessions,''  on  the 
other  side ;  so,  as  the  Doctor  said  afterwards,  telling 
of  the  affair,  they  had  a  double-barrel  doxology; 
and,  while  the  brother  and  sister  were  doing  their 
utmost  to  fill  the  empty  church  with  praise,  the  bell 
in  the  steeple  began  to  ring  and  the  people  came 
pouring  in.  Then  it  dawned  on  the  Doctor  that  he 
had  preached  to  the  few  who  remained,  at  the  close 
of  the  Sunday  School.  But  he  had  preached,  and 
didn't  propose  to  repeat;  so,  when  the  brother  and 
sister  finished  the  doxology,  he  pronounced  the  ben- 
ediction while  yet  the  people  were  coming  in.  That 
night  Dr.  Pritchard,  in  a  sort  of  humorous  way, 
said :  "I  understand,  owing  to  a  little  tangle  in  the 
services  of  the  morning,  the  usual  collection  was 
not  taken  up.  The  deacons  will  now  attend  to  it." 
The  audience  smiled,  and  glanced  toward  where 
Dr.  Bailey  usually  sat,  but  he  was  not  there. 

Memory  calls  up  so  vividly  the  smile  he  wore  on 
his  face,  on  Monday,  as  he  saAV  me  approaching 
him.  I  tried  to  look  very  innocent,  as  if  I  had  heard 
nothing;  but,  he  knew  I  was  shamming,  and  said: 
"You  needn't  try  to  look  so  unconscious — I  know 
you've  heard  it,  for  Dr.  Pritchard  has  been  all  over 
town  this  morning.  I  don't  regrat  but  one  thing, 
and  that  is,  I  wasted  so  much  ammunition  on  such 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  471 

good  people,  as  the  feAV  who  were  there,  while  those 
who  deserved  to  be  shot  didn't  even  hear  my  gun." 

I  love  to  think  over  the  old  times,  and  the  old-time 
friends.  How  we  old  people  do  miss  our  friends. 
We  are  among  strangers  even  while  at  home.  Lone- 
ly in  the  midst  of  the  multitude.  Our  friends  can 
not  return  to  us,  but  we  can  go  to  them.  Getting 
ready  to  die  is  the  all-important  matter. 


CHAPTER  LX. 

HoiD  I  Kept  .Out  of  the  War — What  Might  Have 
Been — 3Ian  Who  Did  Not  Believe  in  Foreign 
Missions — A  Fellow  Who  Tried  to  Play  Infidel. 

In  a  former  sketch  I  told  the  readers  that  the 
Standard  office  was  partially  demolished  by  soldiers 
belonging  to  a  Georgia  brigade,  during  the  war. 
The  damage  to  that  office  was  small,  however,  com- 
pared with  the  wrecking  of  the  State  Journal  office. 
But  as  badly  as  they  broke  Spelman's  press  (and 
it  was  pretty  well  demolished),  it  was,  nevertheless, 
mended  up,  and  did  good  service  in  the  publication 
of  the  Daily  Confederate,  a  paper  that  was  started 
soon  afterwards,  of  which  Col.  D.  K.  McRae  was  the 
editor.    * 

There  is  a  little  story  that  ought  to  come  in  right 
here,  which  will  explain  how  I  kept  out  of  the  war. 

When  I  sold  my  paper,  The  Daily  Press,  to  John 
Spelman,  Esq.,  Governor  Ellis  promised  to  see  that 
the  whole  amount  of  the  purchase-price  should  be 
secured  either  in  money,  or  in  notes,  with  good 
security.  The  purchase-price  was  |3,500.  Soon 
after  the  transaction  notes  amounting  to  $2,500, 
with  good  securities,  were  turned  over  to  me;  but 
|1,000  was  in  open  account,  for  which  I  had  no  note. 


472  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

And  thus  it  stood  when  Governor  Ellis  died,  and 
later  on  when  the  office  was  demolished  by  the  mob. 
Governor  Bragg  and  other  gentlemen  knew  how  the 
matter  stood;  that  I  had  a  thousand  dollars  of  in- 
terest in  that  pile  of  trash  which  the  mob  had  made 
of  the  State  Journal  office.  I  was  there  when  a 
sort  of  inventory  was  taken,  and  the  matter  of  start- 
ing a  new  paper  was  discussed.  A  movement  was 
suggested  looking  to  a  joint  stock  jDublishing  com- 
pany, and  one  after  another  said  he  would  sub- 
scribe, and,  soon  enough  had  been  x^ledged  to  make 
the  movement  a  success.  Then  it  was  that  Gov- 
ernor Bragg  remarked,  that  I  had  an  interest,  to 
the  amount  of  a  thousand  dollars  in  that  wreckage, 
which  ought  not  to  be  overlooked,  and  suggested 
it  would  be  no  more  than  what  was  right  for  me  to 
have  an  interest  in  the  new  company.  Without  a 
dissenting  voice,  I  was  let  in  on  the  ground  floor, 
and  a  certificate  of  stock,  to  the  amount  of  a  thou- 
sand dollars,  was  made  to  me,  when  the  organization 
was  effected.  I  have  that  certificate  now,  printed 
on  Confederate  paper,  and  signed  by  ^Tho.  Bragg'' 
as  president.  What  good  did  it  do  me?  Being  a 
stockholder,  it  brought  me  prominently  to  the  front 
when  the  staff  was  being  made  up,  and  I  was  given 
the  position  of  proof-reader  and  mailing  clerk,  etc., 
and  no  man  had  a  better  "bomb-proof"  than  I  dur- 
ing the  war.  Was  it  not  lucky  for  me  1?hat  that 
thousand  dollars  had  not  been  secured  by  note? 
Had  it  been,  of  course  I  would  have  gone  to  the  war, 
and,  probably,  got  left  on  some  battlefield.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  might  have  distinguished  myself,  be- 
come a  general,  and  gone  to  Congress  after  the  war ; 
and,  instead  of  writing  reminiscences,  I  might  now 
be  in  the  nation's  eye  and  in  the  people's  hearts; 
if  not  as  great  as  Lee  or  Stonewall  Jackson,  big 
enough,  at  least,  to  entitle  me  to  a  first-class  mili- 
tarv  funeral  when  tlie  time  comes.     There's  no  tell- 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  473 

ing  what  might  have  been.  Ever  since  a  gentleman, 
at  a  hotel  in  Columbus,  Ga.,  addressed  me  as  ''Gen- 
eral Gordon/'  I've  had  a  suspicion  that,  perhaps, 
after  all,  I  might  have  distinguished  myself  had  I 
gone  to  the  war.  But  I  didn't;  and  so,  here  I  am, 
trying  to  make  myself  both  useful  and  agreeable  to 
the  readers  of  the  Netos  and  Observer.  On  the  sub- 
ject of  war,  I'm  right  smart  of  a  Quaker,  and,  hav- 
ing come  thus  far  without  shooting  anybody,  or 
being  shot  by  anybody,  I  have  fully  made  up  my 

mind  to  spend  the  remnant  of  my  days  in  peace. 
******* 

I  used  to  hear  of  a  strange  character  in  my  young 
days,  a  gentleman  with  whom  I  had  no  personal 
acquaintance,  though  I  sometimes  saw  him.  He  was 
a  deacon,  and  occupied  a  large  place  in  a  church  sit- 
uated not  far  from  where  I  lived;  and,  that  his  posi- 
tion and  importance  might  be  seen  of  men,  and  wo- 
men as  well,  he  always  sat  well  up  to  the  front  and 
faced  the  audience.  He  had  an  exalted  opinion  of 
his  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures;  notAvithstanding 
it  was  believed  by  his  most  intimate  friends  and 
nearest  neighbors,  he  didn't  have  a  Bible  in  his 
house.  This  opinion  was  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  in  speaking  of  his  acquaintance  with  Scrip- 
tures he  would  often  say :  "I've  read  'em  all  from 
^Generations  to  Revolutions,'  even  the  ^Axes  of  the 
Possuls.'  " 

In  an  argument  on  doctrine  or  church  polity,  he 
was  an  oracle,  indeed,  and  could  prove  anything  he 
said  by  the  Bible;  for,  he  made  texts  whenever 
needed  to  carry  his  ]3oint,  and  flatly  denied  tlie  ex- 
istence of  all  such  texts  as  his  opponent  might  use, 
which  contradicted  him  and  his  texts.  He  didn't 
believe  in  foreign  missions,  but,  like  a  great  many 
of  this  day  and  time,  maintained  that  we  ought  to 
look  after  and  try  to  save  the  heathens  right  around 
home  first ;  that,  when  they  Avere  all  saved,  if  we  had 


474  WHITAKElfS   REMINISCE^X^ES, 

any  time  and  money  left,  we  might  expend  them 
upon  ^'furriners/'  as  he  called  the  heathen;  ^'for," 
he  would  say,  ^ ^charity  begins  at  home,  and  the  Say- 
iour  expressly  told  the  Tossuls'  to  begin  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  I'm  a  Jerusalem  man.  My  doctrine  is: 
saye  them  that's  nearest  the  shore  first ;  then  launch 
out  after  them  that's  sinking  further  off.  ^Begin 
at  Jerusalem !' " 

This  man,  whom  I  will  call  Snipes,  and  a  brother 
of  the  same  church,  whom  I  will  call  Jones,  had 
frequent  arguments  on  the  subject  of  foreign  mis- 
sions, and  he  always  fortified  his  opposition  thereto 
by  repeating  as  proyerbs:  "Charity  begins  at 
home."    "Saye  them  nearest  the  shore,  first." 

"But,"  the  other  man,  Jones,  Ayould  say,  "God 
is  no  respester  of  persons,  and  wants  all  sayed,  and 
all  can  be  sayed  if  the  gospel  plan  is  worked  right. 
That  sinking  man  farthest  from  the  shore  is  just  as 
dear  to  God  as  those  nearest  the  shore,  and  we 
should  try  to  saye  him,  also." 

"No,  no,"  Snipes  would  say;  "saye  them  nearest 
the  shore,  first.  That's  what  the  good  book  means 
when  it  says  ^charity  must  begin  at  home.'  "  And 
thus  he  continued  to  argue  until  a  thing  happened 
that  weakened  his  faith  in  his  own  doctrine.  It 
might  haye  been  a  happen-so;  but,  a  happen-so  is 
as  good  as  a  proyidence,  especially  when  it  opens 
the  eyes  of  a  fool  to  his  folly. 

The  anti-missionary  man  on  a  cold  day,  just  be- 
fore Christmas,  started  to  market  with  a  load  of 
turkeys.  On  his  way  he  had  to  cross  a  creek,  the 
bridge  oyer  which  being  old  and  frail,  broke  in,  and 
he,  horse  and  wagon  and  turkeys,  fell  into  the 
stream.  The  horse  managed  to  get  near  the  shore 
where  the  water  was  shallow,  so  that  horse,  wagon 
and  turkeys  were  in  no  yery  great  trouble  or  danger 
when  neighbor  Jones,  before  mentioned,  happened 
to  ride  up.     But  the  anti-missionary  man  was  in  a 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  475 

sad  pliulit.  When  the  bridge  gave  way  he  sprang 
into  the  creek,  and,  not  being  a  swimmer,  he  Avas 
saved  from  drowning  by  catching  hold  of  an  over- 
leaning  limb  of  a  tree  that  hung  near  the  water. 
The  limb  was  too  weak,  in  fact,  too  small  for  him 
to  climb  out  by  it,  but  served  the  very  good  purpose 
of  enabling  him  to  keep  his  head  above  the  water. 
When  he  saw  his  neighbor  ride  up,  he  cried  out, 
while  his  teeth  chattered;  "Brother  Jones,  do,  for 
God's  sake,  get  a  pole  and  shove  it  to  me  and  pull 
me  out  to  where  I  can  touch  bottom,  for  I'm  mighty 
nigh  frozen  to  death.'' 

"All  right.  Brother  Snipes;  I'll  do  it  just  as  soon 
as  I  get  this  horse  and  wagon  out  and  save  the  tur- 
keys   from    being    drowned,"    responded    Brother 

Jones.  ^   ^     . 

"O,  Brother  Jones,  let  the  horse  and  turkeys 
alone!  they  ain't  suffering  like  I  am.  Get  me  out 
first,  and  then  I'll  help  you  get  the  horse  out." 

"Can't  do  that.  Brother  Snipes,  because  I  must 
^beo-in  at  Jerusalem,'  you  know— ^save  them  nearest 
the  shore  first.'  When  I've  got  the  horse  and  wagon 
out,  then  I'll  see  if  I  can  find  a  pole  long  enough  to 
reach  you.  But  I  can't,  according  to  your  doctrine, 
help  vou  until  I  have  done  that." 

"B-b-b-u-t,  B-r-other  J-J-Jones,  th-the  h-h-horse 
a-and  w-wai?on  are  in  sh-sh-shallow  wa-wa-water; 
Ivb-but  I-I-i'm  w-w-way  out  he-here  in  d^-de-deep 
wa-wa-water  and  ca-ca-can't  sw-sw-swim  a  1-1-lick. 

"Just  so  it  is  with  the  heathen.  Brother  Snipes ; 
he's  out  in  deep  water  and  can't  swim  a  lick;  and 
you  say,  you  know,  we  must  let  him  alone  until  we 
save  all  the  sinners  here  at  home,  who  are  standing 
in  shallow  water  nearest  the  shore.  You  hold  on 
to  that  limb  and  keep  your  mouth  shut,  ov  jou  ii 
set  stran2:led.     I'll  attend  to  you  after  awhile 

Brother  Snipes  began  to  pray,  saying :  Lord, 
have  mercvl  Lord,  have  mercy!"  and  as  the  switt 


476  ^yHITAKER'S    REMINISCE^'CES, 

running  water  would  slosh  against  him  he  began  to 
strangle.  Jones  saw  he  was  almost  exhausted,  and 
must  have  help  soon  or  he  would  drown.  So  he 
said  to  him  : 

"Brother  Snipes,  if  you'll  promise  me  that  you'll 
never  say  again,  'Charity  begins  at  home,'  and  that 
you'll  pray  and  Avork  to  save  the  far  away  heathens, 
as  well  as  those  who  are  nearer  home,  I'll  throw 
you  a  pole.     What  say  you?" 

Brother  Snipes  promised ;  and  so  long  as  he  lived 
was  never  heard  to  say  a  w^ord  against  missions. 

It  takes  a  providence,  or  a  smashup,  or  a  break- 
down, a  ducking,  or  some  other  kind  of  a  happen-so, 
to  knock  the  foolishness  out  of  us.  If  there  is  any- 
thing in  all  the  Bible  that  is  as  plain  as  the  nose  on 
a  man's  face,  it  is  the  command :  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
That  means  just  what  it  says,  and  says  what  it 
means.  But,  as  I  am  not  preaching,  I  will  pursue 
the  matter  no  further  than  to  say :  Brother  Snipes, 
after  that  ducking  and  Brother  Jones'  timely  lec- 
ture, saw  things  in  a  very  different  light,  and  always 
gave  something  to  help  save  the  man  farthest  from 
the  shore — the  far-away  heathen — as  well  as  the 
nearby  heathen. 

*  *  *  45-  *  -Sfr  * 

As  strange  as  it  may  seem,  there's  a  right  smart 
sprinkling  of  infidelity  scattered  here  and  there  over 
the  country — people  who  do  not  believe  in  God, 
Christ,  nor  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  Psalmist 
wrote :  "The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no 
God."  It  would  be  astounding  to  know  how  many 
fools  there  are;  men  who  are  reading  Ingersoll 
and  are  trying  to  bring  themselves  to  believe  that, 
while  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  a  great  teacher,  He  was 
nothing  more  than  a  man ;  a  very  remarkable  man, 
they  admit,  but,  nevertheless,  only  a  man — and 
therefore  no  Saviour. 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  477 

I  am  sorry  for  the  ^^fools"  who  say  there  is  no 
God,  and  I  look  with  pity  and  great  sadness  upon 
the  men  who  do  not  accept  Jesus  as  their  Saviour. 
How  utterly  hopeless  is  the  condition  of  those  who 
say  there  is  no  Grod,  deny  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  and 
discard  the  Bible;  as  infidelity  is  seeking  to  make 
them  do — and  as  so  many  do ! 

Yes,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  infidelity  is  on  the 
increase,  and  it  is  thriving  in  the  so-called  "higher 
life,"  among  the  educated,  and  like  the  leaven  of  the 
Pharisees,  it  is  doing  its  destructive  work  in  the 
church.  What  do  I  mean  by  all  this?  I  mean  that 
while  churchism  is  growing  just  as  it  grew  under 
the  Mosaic  dispensation,  and  the  numerical  strength 
of  the  church  becomes  greater  every  da^^,  faith  is  on 
the  wane,  and  materialism  is  being  substituted  for 
it.  That,  only,  which  can  be  seen  and  handled  sat- 
isfies, while  that  which  is  unseen,  except  by  the  eye 
of  faith,  is  rejected. 

Very  few  people  let  their  infidelity  be  known; 
they  are  rather  ashamed  of  it ;  but  a  very  little  ob- 
servation will  convince  the  observer  that  material- 
ism ( in  a  great  many  cultivated  minds ) ,  is  the  dom- 
inating idea.  The  consequence  is,  they  have  quit 
praying.  And  men  who  do  not  pray  are  infidels, 
whether  they  know  it  or  not.  And,  how  sad  the 
condition  of  that  man,  who  once  believed  in  God 
and  Christ  and  prayer;  but,  who  prays  no  more, 
for  the  reason  that  he  has  annihilated  God  and 
rejected  Jesus — therefore  has  nothing  to  pray  to! 
I  know  a  few  of  that  class.  Paul  makes  a  fearful 
statement,  when,  in  Hebrews,  he  says:  "For  it  is 
impossible  for  those  who  were  once  enlightened, 
and  have  tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift,  and  were  made 
partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  have  tasted  of  the 
good  word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to 
come,  if  they  shall  fall  away,  to  renew  them  again 
unto  repentance;  seeing  they  crucify  to  themselves 


478  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and  put  Him  to  an  open 
shame. '^ 

That  is  an  awful  condition  for  one  to  be  in ;  upon 
which  remark  I  will  make  a  single  comment:  He 
is  of  all  men,  the  most  unwise  who  trifles  with  his 
soul ! 

I  know  a  young  fellow  who  thinks  it  is  very  smart 
to  say  he  doesn't  believe  in  God — has  no  faith  in 
religion — doesn't  believe  there  is  any  heaven  or  hell, 
etc.  And  he  has  never  been  accused  of  having  more 
sense  than  his  mother  gave  him.  I  don't  think  the 
good  Lord  will  require  very  much  of  him.  The 
chances  are  that  he  may  slip  into  heaven  with  idiots 
and  babies,  as  he  doesn't  know  any  better  than  to 
try  to  ape  those  who  do  know,  or  ought  to  know 
better,  but  who  talk  and  write  infidelity  for  the 
same  reason  a  fellow  once  killed  a  buzzard — "for 
the  big  of  the  thing."  Another  young  fellow,  who 
never  let  pass  an  opportunity  to  tell  people  he  was 
an  infidel,  was  "sawed  off"  above  the  knees  by  a  very 
intelligent  lady  of  this  city  not  long  ago.  Quite  a 
croAvd  of  young  people  were  on  her  piazza,  and  as 
it  was  Sunday  evening,  the  Sunday  school  lesson,  as 
well  as  the  sermon  of  the  morning,  was  under  dis- 
cussion. This  young  fellow  repeatedly  said  he  did 
not  believe  in  the  Bible,  nor  in  God,  but  was  an 
infidel.  The  lady  of  the  house  arose,  and  said,  speak- 
ing to  the  would-be  infidel:  "Mr.  Nameless,  I 
bought  a  book  the  other  day,  in  which,  strange  to 
say,  I  found  your  picture.  Its  a  book  called  ^Char- 
acter Sketches,'  and  I  want  to  show  it  to  you." 

By  which  time  all  the  young  i)eople  on  the  piazza 
were  saying :  "Let  us  see  the  picture !" 

"Here  it  is,"  said  the  lady,  "and  I  never  saw  a 
a  better  likeness  than  it  is." 

"It  is  exactly  like  you,  Mr.  Nameless,"  said  one  of 
the  girls.     "What's  he  doing  on  the  end  of  that 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  479 

pole?"  asked  one  of  the  boj's.  ''Ile-s  trying  to  prize 
up  something^'  said  another  boy.  ''Who's  that 
with  hoofs,  horns  and  a  forked  tail,  right  under 
him?''  asked  the  girl  to  whom  that  young  infidel 
was  trying  to  make  love. 

''Why,  that's  the  devil;  don't  you  see  his  pitch- 
fork?" answered  a  little  ten-year-old  boy. 

"Yes,  son,"  said  the  lady,  "that  man  on  the  end 
of  the  lever  is  Mr.  Nameless.  He's  an  infidel,  and 
with  a  lever  called  'unbelief,'  he  is  tr^dng  to  turn 
over  the  Rock  of  Salvation.  But,  you  can  see  he 
can't  budge  it,  though  he's  got  clean  out  on  the  end 
of  the  lever.  The  devil  knows  his  lever  Avill  soon 
slip  from  under  the  rock  and  the  fellow  will  come 
down.  So,  he's  sitting  there  with  his  pitchfork 
ready  to  pitch  him  into  the  furnace.  Stand  back, 
all  of  you,  and  let  Mr.  Nameless  see  his  picture." 

"Well,  ain't  it  just  like  him?"  said  the  fellow's 
girl.  "I  never  saw  a  better  likeness  of  anybody  in 
my  life,"  said  another  girl. 

"Nameless,"  said  one  of  the  boys,  "you'd  better 
hold  up  those  legs,  or  the  devil  will  pull  you,  pres- 
ently." 

"No  use  of  pulling ;  he's  going  to  get  him  without 
any  pulling.  He'll  be  there  when  his  prize  slips," 
said  the  lad}-. 

The  fellow  was  so  badly  hacked  he  left  the  house 
without  saying  a  word;  but,  as  he  passed  through 
the  gate,  he  heard  his  best  girl  say :  "I  thought  he 
had  more  sense  than  to  talk  as  he  does.  I  am  glad 
he's  seen  himself  as  he  is." 


480  WHITAKER'S   REMIXISCE^XES, 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

Tlie   Moon   Man   Intcrvieics   One   of   Our  Higher 
Critics. 

This  is  an  age  of  sensations,  and  our  people  will 
soon  become  so  accustomed  to  surprises,  and  mar- 
velous theories,  it  will  be  almost  impossible  to  start 
anything,  however  exciting,  that  will  cause  them 
to  turn  their  heads  to  look  or  prick  their  ears  to 
hear. 

The  Booker  Washington  theory  took  the  whole 
country  by  surprise;  and,  in  the  South,  especially, 
made  the  white  folks  feel  mighty  bad  and  indulge 
in  some  unkind  feelings  toward  their  daddies  and 
grand-daddies.  And  later  on  the  Dr.  Osier  theory 
cut  the  human  race  off  at  forty,  declaring  man's 
'^uselessness"  at  sixty,  and  gravely  hinting  at  giving 
the  sixty-year-olds  an  expeditious  but  peaceful  exit 
out  of  the  world  by  the  use  of  chloroform.  An  in- 
sult, by  the  way,  to  widowers  who  had  dyed  their 
whiskers  and  hair,  preparatory  to  going  on  the 
second  or  third  campaign  for  young  wives. 

And  next  comes  a  brand-new  sensation  from  a 
professor  of  the  Chicago  University,  that  almost 
paralyzes  us.  We  are  gravely  told  that,  in  the  short 
space  of  three  millions  of  years,  there  will  not  be  a 
human  being  on  the  earth.  Just  think  of  it — 
nothing  here,  says  the  Professor,  in  three  millions 
years,  but  birds.  All  the  great  men  and  beautiful 
women,  all  the  beasts,  the  creeping  things,  the  fishes 
and  every  living  thing  on  the  earth  and  in  the  sea, 
will  have  died — nothing  left  but  birds.  Awful! 
And,  what  makes  it  worse,  the  inference  .*s  easily 
to  be  drawn  that  the  birds  which  the  Professor's 
prophetic  eyes  beheld  in  that  far-off  vision,  Avill  be 
buzzards ;  for,  it  is  certain  no  other  birds  could  live 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  481 

under  such  circumstances.  I  gii'?ss  the  Professor's 
theory  is,  that,  the  human  race  will  become  cannibal 
and  devour  itself;  and,  then,  on  do^\'n  tlirough  all 
the  gradations,  from  elephant  to  mouse,  from  whale 
to  minnow,  from  the  crocodile  to  the  tadpole,  and 
from  the  tadpole  to  the  minutest  insect,  there  will 
be  a  killing  and  a  devouring,  until  the  last  man  has 
oaten  his  last  man  and  died  of  starvation;  and 
beasts,  birds,  fishes,  and  every  other  living  thing 
will  have  been  destroyed  by  its  kind,  until  even  the 
last  mosquito  has  perished  for  tl^e  lack  of  another 
to  feed  upon ;  then  the  buzzards  wi  11  take  possession 
and  eat  up  the  scraps.  After  which,  we  may  sup- 
pose, they  will  strike  out  for  the  moon  or  some 
otIn  r  far-away  planet. 

What  would  the  world  do  without  these  advanced 
thinkers?  Were  it  not  for  them,  all  of  us  would  be 
compelled  to  put  up  with  the  old  time  account  of 
creation,  the  fall  of  man,  and  the  promise  of  a  Sav- 
iour, and  be  forced  to  believe  the  gospel  story  also. 

Talking  about  the  buzzards  flying  away  to  the 
moon  reminds  me  that  I  read  it  in  a  book,  not  a 
great  while  ago,  that  "Lunarius,"  the  man  in  the 
moon,  made,  or  was  supposed  to  have  laade,  a  visit 
to  the  earth.  I  can't  vouch  for  t]i(i  truth  of  tlie 
matter,  but  I  give  the  story  on  the  authority  of  the 
aforesaid  book.  I  suppose  the  author  of  the  book 
was  an  advanced  thinker.  He  was  a  higher  critic, 
at  any  rate,  or  he  would  not  have  gotten  so  high  up 
as  to  report  a  talk  with  the  man  in  the  moon. 
Without  any  intention  of  shooting  off  a  new  sensa- 
tion, and  with  no  hope  of  making  so  much  fame  as 
the  average  sensationalist  is  in  the  habit  of  secur- 
ing, I  will  give  a  short  account  of  that  supposed 
visit,  and  what  the  man  from  the  moon  talked 
about.  I  have  seen  no  mention  made  of  this  most 
astounding  occurrence,  in  any  of  the  ne^\ s^japers, 

31 


482  whitaker's 

therefore,  I  shall  claim  the  credit  of  first  presenting 
the  matter  to  the  public;  not  as  a  sensation,  but 
simply  as  a  write-up. 

I  ought  to  state  right  here  that  the  Lunar  visitor, 
the  renowned  '^Man  in  the  Moon,"  did  not  land  on 
the  earth  at  all,  but  stopping  some  distance  up  in 
the  air,  he  reconnoitered.  We  suppose,  liaving  dis- 
covered Chicago,  he  dropped  down  a  little  lov/er  to 
make  minuter  observations,  and  it  might  have  been 
the  first  human  he  saw  was  that  learned  Professor 
of  the  Chicago  University.  Of  course,  he  had 
mugs,  or  he  could  not  have  come  all  the  wa}^  from 
the  moon.  Seeing  those  wings  may,  possibly,  have 
suggested  to  the  Professor  a  new  condition  of 
things  three  millions  of  years  hence,  when  the  earth 
should  become  a  desolate  region — the  abode  of  buz- 
zards. That  is  mere  speculation,  however,  which 
I  hasten  to  discard  that  I  may  report  the  supposed 
conversation. 

Poised  in  the  air,  the  man  from  the  moon,  speak- 
ing in  a  voice  that  sounded  very  strange,  though 
his  dialect  was  easily  understood,  cried  out : 

"Is  that  Earth  which  I  see?'' 

A  man  (we  will  suppose  the  Professor  of  the 
Chicago  University),  looking  up  and  seeing  the 
strange  object — a  man  with  wings — answered: 

"This  is  Earth.     Whence  came  you?'' 

"My  home  is  the  moon." 

"Well,  light  and  tell  us  the  news." 

"I  don't  like  the  looks  of  things  down  here ;  there's 
too  much  noise  and  confusion.  Things  look  scarey." 

"O,  there's  no  danger.  This  is  Chicago,  a  great 
city,  and  we  have  good  laws,  faithful  policemen, 
impartial  judges,  and  you  need  not  be  afraid — you'll 
be  protected." 

"I  think  I'd  rather  not  risk  it;  but,  will  sit  up 
here  on  a  little  cloud,  and  talk  to  you." 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  483 


^^411  right.  But  first  of  all,  I  would  like  to 
know  your  name.'' 

"My  name  is  Lunarius,  and,  as  I  have  already 
told  you,  my  home  is  the  moon." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Lunarius.  And  I  am  Mr. 
Blank,  a  learned  professor  of  one  of  the  greatest 
colleges  on  Earth,  at  your  service.'' 

"Well,  Professor,  I  am  fortunate  in  meeting  you, 
for  the  purpose  of  my  visit  is  to  get  information, . 
and  surely  you  can  tell  me  all  I  wish  to  know." 

"I  think  I  can,"  answered  the  Professor.  "What 
would  you  like  to  know?" 

"In  the  first  place,  how  old  is  this  planet  on 
which  you  live,  called  the  Earth?"  asked  Lunarius. 

"That's  a  disputed  question.  There  is  an  old 
story  to  the  effect  that  it  has  been  about  six  thou- 
sand years  since  what  people  call  "The  Beginning" ; 
but  modern  science  and,  what  we  term,  advanced 
thought,  have  about  uprooted  that  old  idea,  and  the 
opinion  now,  among  the  best  informed  and  the 
most  advanced  thinkers  and  scientists  is,  that  it  has 
been  millions  of  years  since  this  planet  was  formed. 
Indeed,  we  are  working  on  a  theory  now,  with  good 
prospects  of  establishing  it,  to  the  effect  that  it 
was  never  made  at  all — but,  that,  away  back  of 
millions  of  years  ago,  a  little  particle  of  Sun-dust 
floated  off  into  space — a  particle  so  small  it  could 
not  have  been  seen  with  the  natural  eye ;  and,  that 
little  particle  grew,  as  other  particles  were  at- 
tracted and  adhered  to  it,  until,  in  the  course  of 
the  ages,  and  millions  of  ages,  that  rolled  around, 
it  became  a  globe,  and  the  habitation  of  living  be- 
ings." 

"A  most  wonderful  theory.  Professor ;  but  I  hope 
you  will  not  be  able  to  establish  it,  for,  where  I 
came  from  we  firmly  and  gladly  believe  that  a 
great  Supreme  Being — one  whom  we  call  God — 
made  all  things." 


484  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

"We  have  some  old-time  people,  called  ^old  fogies,' 
who  think  as  you  do;  but,  our  learned  men — our 
advanced  thinkers — have  cut  loose  from  those  old- 
time  notions  they  got  from  what  is  called  the  Mo- 
saic account  of  creation,  and,  by  the  aid  of  science, 
are,  as  I  have  already  said,  evolving  a  more  sensible 
and  reasonable  theory.'' 

"Then,  I  suppose  you  don't  believe  in  the  story  of 
Creation?"  asked  Lunarius. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  Creation?"  the  Professor 
asked,  in  reply. 

"That  a  great  Supreme  Being,  by  his  almighty 
power,  s]3ake  into  existence  all  the  worlds,  giving 
to  each  sun  and  moon  and  star  a  place,  and  appoint- 
ing to  each  a  sphere  of  action;  and,  that  all  these 
worlds  move  by  His  direction  in  perfect  order  and 
harmony;  that  He  also  made,  in  His  own  likeness, 
beings  into  whose  nostrils  He  breathed  the  breath 
of  life,  and  they  became  living  souls." 

"O,  we've  had  all  that  down  here,"  answered  the 
Professor;  "but,  as  I  have  already  said,  we  are 
working  on  a  new  theory — in  fact,  it  is  well  nigh 
established,  though  some  are  not  ready  just  yet  to 
admit  it — a  theory  to  the  effect,  that  those  beings, 
whom  you  say,  were  made  by  God,  in  His  own 
image,  were,  like  the  earth,  evolved.  By  which  I 
mean — as  you  may  not  understand  the  definition 
of  the  word  evolve — that  man,  for  instance,  came 
up  from  a  very  lowly  condition.  We  are  not  en- 
tirely sure,  as  yet,  from  which  he  was  evolved,  the 
animal,  vegetable  or  mineral  kingdom;  but,  we 
scientists  are  agreed  as  to  the  theory  of  evolution." 

"Do  you  college  professors  spend  your  time  down 
here  in  discussing  such  theories  as  that?"  asked 
Lunarius.  "What  would  it.  amount  to,  if  you 
proved  that  you  sprang  from  a  monkey  or  a  fice  dog? 
Would  it  make  you  think  more  of  yourself  if  you 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  485 

could  prove  that  you  were  a  lineal  descendant  of  a 
pole-cat?'' 

"Begging  your  pardon,  Mr.  Lunarius,"  said  the 
Professor,  ^Ave  scientists  are  not  so  much  concerned 
about  ancestry  as  we  are  to  discover  the  truth.'' 

"What  are  you  trying  to  find  out?"  asked  Luna- 
rius. 

"We  are  trying  to  prove  that  the  account  given  of 
Creation,  in  an  old  book  called  the  Bible,  is  all  a 
myth;  and  that,  instead  of  the  Earth's  being  six 
thousand  years  old,  it  was  here  millions  and  even 
billions  of  years  ago,"  said  the  Professor. 

"Well,  suppose  you  prove  that;  won't  you,  there- 
by, destroy  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  that  rev- 
elation which  has  been  given  to  your  Earth?"  asked 
Lunarius. 

"We  scientists  don't  place  that  estimate  upon 
what  you  are  pleased  to  call  ^Revelation,'  as  they 
did  in  the  daj^s  of  superstition ;  therefore,  we  do  not 
take  into  consideration  what  we  may  or  may  not 
do.  We  are  trying  to  establish  our  theory,"  said 
the  Professor,  with  the  air  of  one  who  is  reckless  of 
consequences,  so  he  can  make  his  side  good. 

"Suppose  you  establish  all  your  theories,  will 
that  improve  matters?"  asked  Lunarius. 

"I  think  so,"  answered  the  Professor. 

"Do  you  think.  Professor,  if  you  can  unsettle  the 
faith  of  your  race  in  a  Great  First  Cause,  a  great 
and  holy  God,  a  kind  and  Heavenly  Father,  you 
will  have  blessed  that  race?  If  you  can  bring  the 
Bible  into  contempt,  and  make  yourselves  believe 
that  Moses  did  not  write  the  account  of  Creation, 
contained  in  that  Bible,  will  it  make  your  race  bet- 
ter and  happier?  If  you  can  make  it  appear  that 
no  such  man  as  Moses  ever  lived,  and  no  such  being 
as  Jesus,  to  whom  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  point, 
ever  came  into  the  world,  will  it  be  a  blessing  to 
your  race?     And  if  you  can  prove — " 


486 

^'Hold  on,  Mr.  Limarius ;  3  ou  are  asking  too  many 
questions  all  at  once,"  said  the  Professor. 

"I  have  come  down  here  for  information,  and  to 
enable  yon  to  give  it,  I  will  ask  one  question  at  a 
time.  And  so,  if  you  please,  I'd  be  glad  if  you 
would  answer  as  briefly  as  possible." 

"And  in  the  first  place,  I  ask : 

"If  you  prove  that  your  earth  is  six  millions  of 
years  old,  instead  of  six  thousand,  will  it  make  your 
people  any  better  or  happier?" 

"I  don't  know  that  it  would,"  answered  the  Pro- 
fessor. 

"If  you  make  your  people  believe  that  there  is  no 
God,  will  that  make  them  better  and  happier?" 

"I  am  not  sure  that  it  would,"  answered  the  Pro- 
fessor. 

"If  you  cause  your  people  to  lose  confidence  in 
what  you  call  the  Bible,  will  that  make  them  better 
and  happier?" 

"I  don't  knoAv  that  it  would,"  answered  the  Pro- 
fessor. 

"Well,  Professor,  as  I  am  seeking  information,  I 
would  be  glad  if  you  would  give  me  your  opinion  of 
several  little  matters.     In  the  first  place  I  ask : 

"After  death,  do  you  believe  in  a  future  state  of 
existence?" 

"I  do." 

"Do  you  believe  that  a  man's  conduct  here  will 
have  anything  to  do  Avith  that  future  state?" 

"I  suppose  it  will." 

"I  should  like  for  you  to  tell  me  why?"  said  Luna- 
rius. 

"I  could  not  do  that  without  entering  upon  a 
long  dissertation." 

"You  need  not  do  that.  I  see  your  difftculty. 
And,  as  I  am  about  to  return  to  my  home  in  the 
moon,  permit  me  to  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  a  man 


INCIDENTS   AND   ANECDOTES.  487 

spends  his  life  uselessly  who  does  not  try  to  make 
the  world  better  and  happier.  '' 

When  the  Professor  looked  up  to  make  reply, 
Lunarius  had  flown  out  of  sight. 

Whether  Lunarius  made  that  remark  or  not,  every 
reader  will  join  me  in  saying  that  it  is  true. 
******* 

As  a  closing  up  of  this  sketch  on  sensationalism, 
I  am  reminded  of  an  incident.  As  it  is  in  these 
days  at  country  churches,  the  people,  on  that  occa- 
sion, were  spending  the  time,  before  the  arrival  of 
the  preacher,  in  conversation.  In  the  crowd  was  a 
young  fellow  wearing  a  college  society  badge,  and, 
for  that  reason,  he  was  regarded  by  the  other  young 
men,  who  had  spent  most  of  their  school  days  be- 
tween the  plow-handles,  having  never  seen  an  acad- 
em}^,  much  less  a  college,  as  a  sort  of  superior  being; 
consequently,  they  stood  around  to  hear  him  talk. 
He  could  do  it.  Every  now  and  then  he  would 
spout  a  Latin  phrase,  which  made  the  corn-field  boys 
stare  and  wonder.  He  Avas  a  hero,  and  he  felt  it; 
and,  it  was  plain  that  he  imagined  that  no  such 
fellow  as  he  had  ever  before  visited  that  church 
ground.  Let  the  topic  be  what  it  might,  and  be 
the  speaker  old  or  young,  he  would  put  in  his  oj)in- 
ion,  and  expected  no  contradiction. 

An  old  fellow  standing  close  by,  who  was  a  very 
attentive  listener,  thought  he'd  better  steady  his 
nerves  with  a  chew  of  tobacco ;  so,  taking  a  twist  of 
^^old-field''  from  his  pocket,  he  wrung  off  a  mouthful 
and  asked  the  bystanders  to  take  some. 

The  young  man  thought  that  a  good  time  to  air 
his  learning,  so,  putting  on  a  look  of  horror  and 
disgust,  he  said,  addressing  the  crowd : 

^'Since  I  have  been  at  college  I  have  learned  a 
great  many  things  the  common  people  don't  know, 
and  one  is,  that  a  man  who  uses  tobacco  will  not 
live  out  half  his  days." 


488  whitaker's  reminiscences, 

An  old  man,  standing  near  by,  his  chin  resting  on 
the  end  of  a  staff,  turned  to  the  young  fellow  and 
asked :   ''What  was  that  you  said,"^  Mister?'' 

The  young  fellow,  in  a  pompous  way,  replied : 

''I  say,  old  gentleman,  that  science  teaches  us  that 
a  man  who  uses  tobacco  will  not  live  out  half  his 
days." 

"I'm  so  glad  you  told  us  that.  Mister.  I'll  step 
right  home  and  beg  dad  to  quit  chawing." 

''How  old  is  he?"  asked  the  young  man. 

"He  was  ninety-four  last  spring,  and  has  been 
chawing  ever  since  he  was  six  years  old.  Do  you 
reckon,  Mister,  if  I  can  get  him  to  quit  now,  he'll 
live  out  half  his  days?" 

"Of  course  there  are  exceptions  to  all  general 
rules,"  the  young  man  said,  rather  meekly. 

Another  old  man,  a  little  way  off,  asked  in  a 
shrill  tone  of  voice : 

"How  about  me.  Mister?  I'm  eighty,  and  have 
been  chawing  ever  since  I  was  knee  high.  Do  you 
reckon  I'll  live  out  half  my  days?" 

The  young  fellow  looked  hacked  when  another 
old  fellow  threw  out  his  quid,  as  if  getting  ready  to 
tell  how  long  he'd  been  chawing,  and  was  never 
gladder  than  when  the  preacher  said : 

"Come  in,  friends,  and  let  us  begin  the  service." 

I  suppose  that  young  fellow  was  prompted  by  a 
desire  to  be  a  little  sensational;  the  same  desire 
which  prompts  Professors  to  trot  out  so  many  of 
their  surprises;  and  having  been  to  college,  he  felt 
that  it  was  expected  of  him  to  do  and  say  something 
smart.  The  young  doctor  who  went  home  and  re- 
ported to  the  old  doctor  that  their  patient  had  eat 
a  horse,  because  he  found  a  bridle  and  saddle  under 
the  patient's  bed,  was  a  Solomon  compared  with 
some  latter-day  advanced  thinkers  who  go  off  half- 
cocked,  with  senseless  sensations. 


■3^ 


'im 


m 


u 


*^» 


